Monday, June 29, 2015

What I'm grateful for today: Being new

pepper plant
The wonderful thing about being a new gardener is, well, everything is new!

Everything is a revelation.

At left, check out our first-ever pepper blossoms. So that's what they look like!—down-curved with the green part at the base of the petals ready to turn into a pepper after the flower drops off.

pea or bean?
On the right, our first-ever pea flowers. (Or are they bean? I don't know!) We were given bean and pea seeds to soak and plant by a neighborhood teen, and I didn't keep track of which was which. With luck, we'll know by the veggies produced before too long.

At the moment, I'm exhilarated by how everything feels gorgeous, exciting and full of promise.

The bee balm, which someone was giving away on the gardener's listserv and never got more than a few inches off the ground last summer, now soars past my knees and looks like this:

some kind of Monarda species (bee balm) gifted by a neighbor

In fact, some of it is thigh-high and still looks to be growing. Good for birds, bees, and butterflies, I hear, and good for my state of mind. Thank you.



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6 comments:

  1. Sarah MonsmaJune 29, 2015 at 5:47 PM

    I love this post, Sarah! Garden discoveries are such fun.

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    1. SarahJune 30, 2015 at 1:05 AM

      Thanks, Sarah! They really are! :-) Have you read Stanley Kunitz's book, The Wild Braid? I think you'd enjoy it. http://www.wildriverreview.com/2/2-reviews_kunitz.html

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  2. Jennifer BrownJune 30, 2015 at 12:06 PM

    So beautiful! My garden discoveries, so far, have been bunny-eaten bean stalks, a big ol' mess of weeds, and a stunted tomato plant. I think your discoveries are better. :-)

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    1. SarahJune 30, 2015 at 9:50 PM

      Thanks, Jenny! I should perhaps share more of the agonies of defeat. The shriveled raspberry bramble! The strawberry plant felled in its prime by a cutworm! Sigh.

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  3. AndreaJune 30, 2015 at 2:07 PM

    Lovely! Beginner's mind...so good for the enjoyment of life!! And aren't veggie flowers beautiful?

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    1. SarahJune 30, 2015 at 9:38 PM

      They are so beautiful! And it feels like an embarrassment of riches because you get to enjoy the flowers and eat the veggies too (if all goes well -- last year we had tons of squash blossoms but not a single squash).

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