Delighting in dirt

When I started seeds in egg cartons last March I simply needed to see something grow. I didn’t imagine they’d feed us for months to come, nor the joy I’d find rooting around in the dirt.

As I prepare the garden for another round of snow and ice, here’s a timeline of its evolution from spring to summer to fall.

June 9

Swiss chard (and spinach bolting in the back) beneath row covers in a garden.A bouquet of astro arugula. Aunt Mae Bibb lettuce growing in straw.

June 30

Establishing the squash trellis and flower forest. A harvest basket with beets, greens, and the first carrot of the season. The first sunflower bloom.

July 14

July 23

July 30

Flowers in bloom.

August 9

August 22

harvest basket filled with vegetables and flowers. A bee pollinating a tomato blossom.

September 5

A harvest basket filled with raspberries, flowers, tomatoes, and herbs. Tromboncino squash hangs from a vine.

September 21

Row covers in an early autumn garden, on a cloudy day.  An autumn garden, with an empty trellis and tired looking sunflowers, no longer in bloom.

On the last day of summer I weeded and raked in cover crop. There are still rows of kale, spinach, beets, carrots, celery, and collards under cover. Summer squash and peppers have a couple weeks to ripen before frost turns them to compost. But most of my work here is done. Now it is time to write.

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