Report From An Opinionated Gardener – August 6
This is surely a “life in all its fullness” month. Everywhere I turn there are flowers, vegetables and fruit…not to mention weeds and plants that are drying or dying. This is a month of abundance, although we may not be thrilled with everything nature is offering in such profusion.
We’re picking summer squash, potatoes, broccoli and beans daily. Blueberries and raspberries continue to ripen and the blackberries are coming in…and I have to admit that I’m not always as thrilled and grateful about this avalanche of plenty as I should be.
There are days when I get home from work and it’s hot or humid or both, and the veggies need picking yet all I want to do is shower and sit down for awhile. “Couldn’t the squash double their size every other day instead of every twenty-four hours?” I think, immediately feeling guilty that I’m not totally appreciating the wealth of what I have.
Life in all its fullness, right? How absolutely human it is to have a landscape full of treasure and yet yearn for more, less, or better.
All winter I long for flowers to cut and bring into the house. Now I'm surrounded by blooming plants needing deadheading and picking. I love them, cherish them, and am totally grateful...and part of me also wishes I could time travel back and forth from August to February...from constantly being surrounded with things to pick, pull and tend to that period of time when I can ignore the outdoors completely. August is a month that teaches us to say "Yes" to it all. Yes to weeds and work, gardens and guilt, love, hate, leisure and harvest.
