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Beauty in all seasons

June 24th, 2012

There is beauty, certainly, at all seasons: in winter, when the skeletons of the standard currants and gooseberries, the espaliered apples, show cleanest against the snow-covered rows, all plastid like seersucker; in early spring, when the rows, fecund and mellowed from their winter sleep, lie ready for the seeding of the first crops–radishes, lettuce, board beans, and mesclun; in late spring, when neat green lines of sprouted seed give further definition to the rows and the promise of so many good highs to come; in high summer, when the integrity of those rows, their pattern on sprawling stem, creating a maze to wander through; and in autumn, when frosts threaten and all the work of the growing year must be hastily undone, stripping tomato vines, gathers potatoes, searching for squash and pumpkins, trundling all under cover in the hurried exhilaration of final harvest. But in high spring and early summer, when the pea vines produce their wan, white mothlike flowers, the garden is at perhaps its most beautiful. It is then, most certainly, that we know why we are here, and what we are doing.

Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill





While I do appreciate and enjoy all the seasons of the garden here in NE Ohio, I especially love the exuberance in the this time of year. I have to agree with the authors above, it truly is the most beautiful time in the edible garden.

What season do you think is most lovely when it comes to the garden?

4 Comments to “Beauty in all seasons”
  1. KimH on June 24, 2012 at 8:47 am

    I think the garden is the most lovely when its ripe with produce waiting to be picked.. For me, thats what its all about & when I get a super garden high.

    Although, I have to say that yesterday when I went to my garden at the community garden, I was jumping up & down with joy literally.
    I had planted another garden with lots of squashes and 4 rows of okra, 2 rows from seed my dad gave me that I ran thru my food processor a few seconds & then soaked in coffee maker hot water for almost an hour before I planted, and these had germinated & were looking pretty happy!!

    The other 2 rows of conventional okra seed that I did nothing but take out from their package, were not. :(

    So that brings me to I also love the magic of putting seed into the ground and finding the beautiful little hatch-lings appear soon after…

    Reply to KimH's comment

    • Susy on June 24, 2012 at 8:57 am

      Nice, seems those “old-fashioned” ways of doing things often result in success!

      I’ve never grown or eaten okra before – can you believe it. Someday I will.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • KimH on June 24, 2012 at 2:15 pm

        I can believe you’ve never grown it It doesnt seem to be a midwest/northern thing to grow, though the Amish do but in the south its all over the place. It likes a lot of hot sunny weather which this year is looking perfect for.

        Im not really fond of boiled okra in any way.. though I’ll eat it in jambalaya & etouffee and I like it just fine there. Stewed plain or with tomatoes, yeckk.. which is how many many people think is “the way” you cook it. “THE” best way ;-) is fried, dusted with cornmeal in a bit of bacon grease in a cast iron skillet, letting it “burn” a little bit here & there, with plenty of salt & pepper. Now most southerners/south westerners will tell you thats a bit of heaven. At least all the ones I ever talked to about okra. Its hard to make enough for everyone to get their fill.. doubt that’d happen unless you had a field of it & then you’d probably hate it. ;)

        Im not totally wild about the fried okra you can get frozen because the way its cooked in the south, the breading isnt thick like that nor does 1/2 of it stay on the okra, but I’ll eat it every once in a while cuz I cant get it any other way here. :)

        to KimH's comment

  2. Liz J on June 24, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Actually I think right now is the most lovely time in the garden. It’s been unusually hot, but tolerable for 1-2 hours a day (in the mid-day heat). Everything is growing and healthy. The peas finally produced and got “pulled” yesterday, along with the spinach which just bolts at this time of year. I added to the row the peas were in, a bag of manure and 4 buckets of compost (while controlling an eek moment when I found two snakes curled up under the compost pile cover ~ they get me every time!) ~ Beans will go in that row mid-week. Weeds and grass are always a battle, but they don’t get the better of me until August, when I give in to them, because it’s so darn hot. Right now seems the most perfect time in the garden, not out of control yet, and just plain enjoying it all…

    Reply to Liz J's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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