 |
| Monarch butterfly pays me a visit. |
 |
| My first sweet potatoes |
I'll admit it. I'm sorry to see the summer end. Although I thoroughly enjoy the fall season, this year I am loathe to see it arrive. You see, my garden was so vibrant and abundant and blessed my family and me with so much in the way of beauty and nutrition that I just want to keep those good feelings going. Never have I enjoyed the richness of my garden as I did this year. The photos on this page give only the smallest hint of the luscious vegetables I harvested this year. Sweet potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, green, red, yellow and orange peppers, sweet little aji (pronounce ah-HEE) peppers used in Spanish Caribbean cooking, cucumbers, scallions, onions, basil, oregano, cucumbers, canteloupes, honeydews...did I mention cucumbers? I had so many huge, sweet and delicious cucumbers grow out of one little bush that I had to give them away because we couldn't eat them fast enough.
 |
| A magnificent Angel Trumpet |
|
 |
| Aji Dulce (sweet small peppers) |
Everyone in my neighborhood knew when I was cooking dinner because they would see me come out to my garden with a basket and start gathering leaves and veggies. The satisfaction of plucking, peeling and cooking my own home grown vegetables was indescribable as were the meals they produced. I smile just at the thought of it. None of this even begins to address the beauty of my flowers or that of Mother Nature's magnificent creatures that came to visit my garden. Is it any wonder I don't want the season to end?
 |
| A monk parrot in my apple tree |
 |
| Just some of my garden goodies...YUM! |
As always, I learned many lessons in my garden, the most important of which is this: that which you put your attention on will manifest. I paid a lot of attention to my garden, making it a priority in my daily routine. Every day I would get out of bed earlier than I wanted to in order to water it thoroughly before the heat of the day set in. I would remove weeds and thin out excess plants. But most of all I gave it love. I would talk to my plants (YES, I talk to plants), express my affection for them and thank them for their beauty and abundance. I would tend them continually and guard them zealously. I treated them as I would my children.
 |
| Oh, how I'll miss my veggies. :( |
 |
| A bumble bee covered in pollen |
Already I am planning next year's garden and mentally marking the calendar for when I can begin seedlings in anticipation of next season's harvest.
Yes, I gave my garden love and my garden loved me in return. Why would anyone want such a relationship to end?
Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
