If there is any doubt in my mind as to the reality of it being late August, I only have to step foot in the garden. For in there, it is most definitely late August! Though there is still a huge amount still left to come in - the bulk of the garden really - there is a slightly wild flair to the edges. As though to remind me who is really leading this garden dance (it surely isn't me). I might tend and cultivate and sweat my heart out inside that garden fence, but in the end, it belongs to the Earth, and there is just only so much I can do before it begins returning to the wild. This time of year, the balance tips, to be sure...as grass grows high and some weeds are let to be right where they are, and well, it all feels good really. It is as it should be. As the abundance coming inside reminds me. We were just talking at the dinner table about how what I plant definitely is not what we end up with in equal proportions. This year's weather - as dry and hot as any I remember - means different things have thrived. My brassicas are all quite happy, and oh goodness the tomatoes too! I've never had so many peppers and for whatever reason, those beets are just off the charts. But carrots, and their need for so much water early in the germination process? Not much at all.
Most exciting of all right now is that the 'sunflower house' we made - just a circle of various sunflowers planted with a morning glory archway (upside down tomato cages and a piece of wire) is nearing her peak. It's a fort of green in there (that next to last photo Adelaide took from inside, looking up), and so much fun for the kids to run in and out of, and to hide out in too. I haven't tried that yet. Why haven't I? Maybe today.
Another warm one is in store for us today, and after so many days out and plenty of beach time, I think we're all eager to stay home. Not in the kitchen preserving this food just yet, but rather outside and in the garden, doing a little bit of care and tending. Because really, it's only late August in garden. There's still so much more ahead.
