Monthly Archives: August 2013

Symbolism in Sunflowers

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There is no way to get around that the last 2 months have been incredibly stressful. The only reason I have any sanity left is forcing myself to de-stress by ripping things up in the yard and sweet, sweet Lily. Her nagging me to get out of bed or take her for walks, listening to all of my rantings and giving me snuggles and kisses has kept me reasonably human.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I finally hired someone to fill our open position and vacation season has tapered down. I know I’m not out of the woods yet – still have to train new guy and there are still challenges, lumps and bumps that are not resolved and all of my projects and plans are still out there — but it has to start getting easier soon. That is my logic when looking at the improbable sunflowers. As mentioned, I threw a pack of seeds in the ground that Eric Murray got last year as part of a wedding invitation. The seeds were all busted up and not remotely promising, yet they grew — a lot. Now they are over 8 feet tall and lovely. And they will bloom any day now. I love sunflowers. Their cheerfulness forces me to smile. So I am smiling, knowing that brighter days are on their way.

Sunflowers

They are 8 feet tall and ready to bloom and making me cheerful. Not to mention Lily, basking in the sun.

Flower Vignettes

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In all the years that I been gardening, I have always spent a lot of quality time wandering around my yard, observing and checking on the status of all of my “little guys.”  And I always notice who is getting ready to bloom, who is getting chewed on, and all of the minor details that only a true gardeners really can be aware of. But lately,  the wandering has been more extreme — getting home from work and rehashing my day, upcoming projects/conversations and trying to get my thoughts organized while also checking on the poises. And depending on how recently I have managed to deadhead and weed, I’m either giddy or groaning. When I am giddy, it is sometimes the overall impression that is striking — the riot of color and texture — but sometimes it is one little spot that I am particularly taken with. I have started calling them vignettes. It could be the combination of colors (orange with purple, yellow and pink, blue and red, etc.), or a few blooms that came together in a particularly fetching way. Whatever the reason, it makes me smile. And sometimes I try and take a picture and then I remember my photography skills leave a lot to be desired — I should work on that.

mallow

Mallow, callengula, bachelor buttons behind the retaining wall.

dalia

A dailia I randomly bought last year and came up in a pot, next to asters, marigolds and parsley

bachelor buttons

Bachelor buttons, callengula and chamomile in the herb bed

natsturiums

nasturiums amid the basils, lemon balm, feverfew

mallow and cosmos

mallow, cosmos and bachelor buttons behind the retaining wall

Vegetables of My Labor

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The garden is hitting its stride! Up to this point things have been trickling in at a reasonable pace — a few zucchini a week, some beans, arugula — enough that I have enough to enjoy but no so much that I am getting tired of things yet. I have been cooking a lot of my old favorites — grilled zucchini, sauteed veggies on coucous and sausage, awesome green bean tarragon potato salad — and adding a few new recipes to the rotation — “Fried” zucchini spears, etc. It is all helping me keep myself feed while I am so busy and stressed out. And cooking has always been another of my destressors — so win, win. But I have been eager for the tomatoes to start pouring in.

Today, a rare day off, I had my first really bumper harvest:

vegetable harvest

Beans, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pans, cucumber and a pile of tomatoes! (and one random radish)

And I’m looking forward to more.

garden bed 1

Peppers in the front — mostly not ready yet but lots going on there. carrots are still pretty small. 2 tomatoes — getting close to trickling in. zucchini and squash producing a few a week. Look at the big ole weed — gardening fail.

tomatoes

My favorite — the stupice — is pretty small but producing. The green zebra is proving to be the most promising. The black beauty is also doing pretty good.

garden 2

The beans continue to be the top producers. The winter squash isn’t doing much at this stage. The patty pans aren’t as productive as the other summer squash but doing ok. Arugula has bolted and will need to come out soon. Other lettuces are really bitter and will probably end up getting composted. The cucumber in front is doing better than cucumber usually does for me, but that isn’t saying much.