May and June were perfect and beautiful. Hot days, afternoon showers, popping green leaves and budding fireweed. Finally the beets and carrots sprouted up among the flowies that had already made their debut. Everyone was happy because everyone was there. No one was left out of the kickball game, everyone got to play.
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| Tatsoi ("Asian Greens") grew crazy fast and we planted far more than we could ever eat. We gave away bags and bags to our neighbors, co-workers and family members. This stuff is great for salads, cooking up with veggies and eggs for breaky, and on turkey sandwiches (my favorite food). |
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| The carrots were slow to grow but they were oh-so steady. The package was right, one seed every couple of inches or so would have saved me some thinning, but I wasn't too far off with this one seed every one inch method. And I like to eat tiny baby carrots, it makes me feel like a 50 foot woman. |
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| Marigolds are the perfect Alaskan summer flower. They have put up with so much shit this summer: over watering, under watering and multiple dog smashings. They've been in terra cotta pots, plastic pots, wooden beds and hanging baskets. And look how freaking beautiful they are. There is something about that bitter smell that sticks to the inside of your nose that I just love. |
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| My mom always grew (and still does grow) pansies of all kinds. Whatever variety this was they shot up super tall and got too wobbly. They were lovely and produced a bunch of flowers but I think a shorter, smaller variety will be in order for next year. |
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| Petunias. I love petunias. And they love pretty much anyone and anything. I like to get bright popping colors like this red because they always spill over with booming color and thick, fuzzy stems. I just had a thought, are my legs actually petunia stems? Hmm. |
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| Lobelia is also a favorite. It grows in so full and thick. It is generally pretty hardy and can fill out any hanging basket real nicely. This year I got this lovely blue and a bright purple variety, with enough to fill two big hanging baskets. |
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| The first red cherry tomatoes came in thick and hung on strong for a while before they started to turn red. |
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By late June the garden was showing it's true potential: limitless. At this point in my eyes, nothing could go wrong. How could it? We had plenty of sun, plenty of rain, plenty of day light and a loving garden mother who talked sweetly and encouraged each plant to do it's best. "Look at you! You're doing so great! Yep, just keep heading that way and you'll be producing in no time. Let me get rid of those dead leaves for you, there. Oh, look at that chick-weed, here, I got it."
Plants are living things like you and me. Like my dogs. Like the wood peckers who loudly wake me in the morning, the baby ravens learning how to fly and the rooster who is obviously new to crowing. Living things like to be talked to nicely and they often do well if you give them what they need and a little bit of what they want.
Much like my robust baby garden, June was a beautiful and promising thing.
