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Sssshhhhhhh! Don’t tell her! In fact, I’m going to whisper this whole post so she doesn’t hear me.
Haha, hello spaghettios, and happy Tuesday!
Kitty and Tristan are in Mexico, and before they left, Tristan asked me to keep an eye on their garden. They don’t know I brought my camera along, so this post is secret, ok? They’ll never know.
I just love Kitty’s house. She’s a magical girl, so of course her gardens are magical as well. Especially in the back:
She calls it her farm. I can see why!
It’s not only pretty, but she has an abundance of fruits and vegetables, in varying stages of ripeness.
Like these grapes:
Yes, I sampled them and they’re delicious. Grapes grow surprisingly well in New Mexico. By surprisingly, I mean I’m surprised, anyway, because, you know, it’s the desert and grapes are so plump and juicy. I have trouble wrapping my tiny brain around that.
Lots and lots of apples. I’ve heard rumors of “apple baseball” every fall, but I haven’t actually witnessed it myself. I did attend the much-anticipated “Dance-off” in the back yard, but that’s a completely unrelated story.
Tristan said these are a cross between plums and apricots. I don’t know about that, but I ate one and it made me want to break out the ladder and pick the ripe ones at the top of the tree and shove them in my mouth as fast as possible.
They’re growing purple corn, which I’ve never seen before, despite being from Indiana, which may be the corniest, cornest, most corn-happy state there is.
I really like this trend of purpling up the garden. Purple carrots, purple garlic, purple corn. I can’t think of a single purple food of which I’m not a big fan.
Kitty works as an ER nurse. That’s got to be one of the hardest jobs there is. People are not easy when they are sick. She’s got such a sweet disposition, she’s so kind. I’m really glad she’s got color and beauty on her farm, it’s important for her regenerate after long shifts nurturing other people.
Despite her demanding job (or maybe because of it), she’s playful. Because everyone should have a disco ball in the garden, right? Right.
I love looking at other people’s gardens. Don’t you? Especially if they’re on vacation and you can take your time admiring their creations? Thanks for coming on this secret tour with me, and remember, ssssshhhhhhhh!
Hi pepperoni slices, and happy Wednesday.
Just for the fun of it, I recently planted an empty planter at Billy’s Long Bar with red, white and blue flowers.
It’s cute, isn’t it? I think so. The Fourth of July holiday is this weekend. That definitely inspired the color choice, but it wasn’t the only consideration.¹
These flowers will be here growing and thriving until around October or November. Will people still want to see red, white and blue in November, I wondered to myself. Then I thought, of course they will. They’re still planted in America no matter what time of year it is.
I keep hearing about how we are a divided America. Segregated like these plants in the back of my van, seemingly unable to see the value in each others’ being.
I understand, yes, there are lots of differing opinions out there, and lots of people like to shout their opinions in your face, lots of people are jerks, lots of people are incendiary. But that doesn’t automatically translate to a divided nation. Most reasonable people are able to have different opinions than the people in their lives, be it coworkers, family, friends, and still get along. That’s not the same as divided.
I can’t stop thinking of all the things we do together. Like ignore the World Cup (haha, I’m watching!). And worry over our oceans and lands. And wonder what life will be like for our grandchildren.
We’re a nation that likes music and the arts, gardening, and drinking on patios. Minor league baseball games (Go Isotopes!), movies, cars, animals, tweets and dinner parties. We love to laugh and dance, we’re not afraid of hard work. We can be smart, we can be smart-asses, we can be asses. We cling to hope to see us through each day.
It’d be cool if we had some sort of holiday where we could come together as a nation and stop calling ourselves divided before we actually become divided. Maybe celebrate by, I don’t know, blowing things up and eating hot dogs by the pool?
I think the best way to express national pride is by having local pride. I want customers to look at those flowers and think, “Hey, that’s nice.” Gardeners do this with their gardens. Businesses do it with their services. Restaurants do it with their cuisine.
It’s all about having pride, nationally and locally. Pride in our values, pride in our careers, pride in our neighborhoods. And changing aspects of our lives we don’t like. It’s our choice, individually, yet collectively, too.
It’s almost our birthday. I wonder, will this be the year we grow up a little and stop doing things to harm ourselves? The year we gain forward momentum rather being mired in the past? The year we discover the value and the pitfalls of personal freedom, and how that impacts our collective freedom?
If I were the one blowing out the birthday candles on America’s cake, I would wish for action. By that I mean individuals and businesses taking responsibility for their screw-ups, and fixing them instead of hoping that positive thinking will solve all the world’s problems. Action, meaning working toward solutions rather than bickering about the problems. Action, doing what’s right for all of us, rather than what’s easy or good for only some.
I’ll be back manana. Until then, happy gardening!
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¹ Including the plant selection. I would’ve chosen more Petunias, maybe even thrown in some purple ones, but there was not much selection at Corrales Road greenhouse. They will be shutting down the business on September 1st. They are giving up – the big box stores have worn them out. It’s currently for sale in case, you know, you have some extra money and you were thinking of buying a plant nursery anyway. I’m gonna miss this greenhouse, and it’s great people including Ann, Chris and Mike. I’m planning on helping them out as much as I can between now and then, finding new homes for the plants.
Good To Grow 