Tomatoes & Pumpkins - who knew?

That the simple act of growing edibles could be so warm, fuzzy and addictive?!

You'd be right if you though that one thread of my fascination came from my childhood. I was forutnate to have grandparents who farmed so it was always a part of my childhood. In my teens and 20's I was part of the foxfire generation. (if you don't know, the foxfire book(s) of the 70's were the good earth reference of a generation). In my early married years my husband and I cut and burned wood, did our own renovations, built two buildings amid full work schedules.

But life (and time) seldom move in straight lines and before long I found no time (or ceased to make time) for such pursuits until 30 some years had trickled by..... Now I find myself again drawn by the simple magic of such things. The diffrence now is that I posess the discipline to act vs dream ( a decided plus to mid life for me at least)!

This year my tomatoes went in as they have for the last several years. Six 'baby girl' tomaote plants - enough for my husband and I with extras for family and friends. Pumpkins and watermelons were the new adventure this year. Tho the rain caused them to fall prey to damping off fungus and did them in before fruiting they gave me a smile week after week. Watching them progress thru each step till just a few days ago fascinated me. Too bad that too much rain can be a bad thing. Still now I know they grow well I'll have another attempt next year!

The 'girls' (early girl tomatoes) are long and leggy from all the rain and limited sun, but the tomatoes I gather in a bowl (or in my shirt if loose enough to hold them - just as grandma used to) really do engender such an a amazing amount of contentment and accomplishment. Growing. Basically (weather and pests aside) so simple, so direct. Plant. Watch. Weed. Grow. Gather.

Food from inception to ingestion, lol.

Warm fuzzy fun.

Older than time but still inspiring.

Who'd have thought.....!

Naughty Summer

Summer, we have to have a talk....
I know you probably have issues, things on your mind. But honestly I just don't know what your problem is this year! No sun, no warmth. Rain, rain and more rain! My sunflowers refuse to grow or bloom (they say they are after all SUN-flowers). My tomatoes are despondent. And green. Big and green. That's no way for tomatoes to look at the end of July going into August. And while we're speaking of July, do you know how distressing it is to be wearing a jacket in July? Jackets in July is catchy sounding but very distressing. Cool, cold rain day after day is fine if you're not a tree. But I'm not.

It's August and time is running out. So, Summer, if you could see your way clear to send a little sun and warm my way I'd be ever-so-pleased. Just a few days here and there. yes, that would be lovely....

Done, done & done!

Marigold seeds planted :-) (thanks for the seeds Mum!)
Sunflower seeds planted :-) :-)
Tomatoes (plants) planted :-) :-) :-)
And this year I'm trying pumpkins and watermelons. A new adventure for certain, lol No pictures to show just yet - I'm thinkin' dirt with marker stakes isn't all that interesting a picture. But I'll have pictures when there's something to show/share! Ah what a happy time with planting done done DONE.

Now it's time to water, watch and marvel at
the magic of seeds 'becoming'...