Ain't Complaining

It has been a work-in-the-garden sort of day. Both Glen and I spent time out there with Maurice supervising at times, but I have to admit that he's been doing the hard work of it all. He's doing it all the right way, none of this slap-dash gardening that I do. He mixes the compost with the soil and mulches and treats each little seedling like it's precious, making sure that every one of them gets their bone meal and organic fertilizer just as nannies of old made sure their charges got daily doses of cod liver oil. 

It's all about the bag-container garden this year. We're going to give it a shot. See those potatoes in the black bags? They're just leaping up with the joy of living. I hope there's as much going on in the bags as there is on top of them. He also planted my tiny heirloom tomato seedlings in the beige bags that you can see. Those are the ones I've started from the seeds that Jennifer sent me. I got way more seedlings than we can plant but better too many than not enough, I suppose. I can't wait to see how they do, if they make us fruit, if they are happy here. Their names are so wonderful. Hillbilly Potato tomato, Rosso Sicilian, Berkeley Tie Dye, Eva Purple Ball, Nebraska Wedding...it goes on. We have grown the Berkeley Tie Dyes before and they were fabulous so I asked the man if he'd plant extra of those and he did. 

He also planted the squash in bags and I'm hoping that helps us prevent the squash plants from dying as soon as they fruit from whatever evil fungus we have in our dirt. He's out there right now, planting the peppers but those are going in rows which you know will be straight and true with an exactly equal distance between each plant. 

So what I did today was to pick off the remaining good leaves of the arugula to wash and keep in the refrigerator for the last salads of it, then pull the plants and weed those rows. I did the same for most of the mustard greens which never did do much this year. No idea why. I picked the last of the peas and cut those plants, leaving the roots in as I have been told to do and then planted cucumber seeds where they had been. I also pulled the row of different salad greens that have gone to seed. 
I hate pulling plants, even when I know it's the right thing to do. It's really time to pull up the collards too but I could only stand so much plantacide today. Here's what they are looking like now.

I'm leaving them for the bees at this point. 

I did pick a few of those beautiful stems to bring inside. And I picked kale (which is unbelievably green and healthy with still no signs of bolting), collards, mustards before I pulled them, and turnip greens along with a few of the turnips to cook for our supper. They are on the stove now. How I will miss them for the rest of the year! Not just the way they taste, but the way my knife feels, biting through those crisp, sturdy leaves and stems on the wooden cutting board. There is something just so very primal about that which satisfies my soul in ways that nothing else can. There is no way that a bag of greens from the grocery store can compare and so we just don't eat many cooked greens in the summer. Of course we still eat salads but the lettuces we buy are also vastly disappointing. The hydroponically grown lettuces and the Romain are not awful and we mostly make do with those but it's still not the same. We have appreciated each and every salad we've had this winter and spring. Every time I make one, it's a little different. Last night's had greens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, black olives, toasted pine nuts and a very simple vinaigrette that I made on the salad and mixed in. The night before I switched it all up with just the greens and cucumbers and toasted sesame seeds with a tahini and tamari dressing that I love so much. 

But like the Bible says, to everything there is a season and soon it will be tomato and pepper and cucumber and squash season. And green beans! Hopefully. One never knows what sort of year it will be for those. Between the heat and the bugs and the various plant diseases we get here, it can be tricky. But each and every year, hope springs eternal. Gardens are living, breathing little universes all unto themselves and as with every living thing, one can know all the rules and yet, no one can compensate or prepare for the many, many variables that each year brings. 

Mr. Moon is back in the house. He just told me that he "ran out of ass," which is one of my favorite sayings. It's just so perfectly descriptive. 

Here's another picture of the tung tree in less gloomy circumstances. 

It's been another beautiful day and I am beyond grateful that I live in this place where there is so much to appreciate, literally in my back yard. 

And front yard, too.

For a million different reasons, some days are just so much easier for me to luxuriate in and this has been one of them. 

Love...Ms. Moon

P.S. Mr. Moon just sent me a few pictures. He'd gone out to see his garden being watered. If you've ever had a garden, you'll understand.