Tending

Sitting out here on my patio, it's now just past seven in the morning. Just starting to warm up a bit. Mornings have been cold, afternoons have a chill and I still wear fuzzy booties to bed. I use two blankets.

I come out onto my patio each morning to enjoy the first rays of sunshine and inspect my garden.  Mostly pots on the patio. The raised bed is outside the fence.  Adjacent to it is my little St. Francis garden.

Nothing seems to be growing.  It's as if the plants are holding back. I don't know what more to do.  I've given them the advantage of good soil from the nursery, proper organic fertilizers, and water.  I totally give up on trying to grow herbs.  It is like some sort of reverse sorcery. I never have luck.  I can't produce enough for a garnish, never mind a Medieval sort of compound for skin rash. But the failure to launch the rest of my plants, that baffles and annoys me.  Maybe my impatience is weighing in.  I have to keep reminding myself that it is only June and that we have a short growing season here. Don't ask me how the local produce that makes the farm stands and little markets so inviting, has managed to bloom and burst into the gorgeous array of salad ingredients that find their way into our weekly "Salad Club" bags. 

Maybe by August, I will produce my own salad.  Isn't that what the world around me is suggesting?  Be patient.  Be diligent. Continue to water. Move pots around so that they all get an extra few moments in the sun. Don't over-fertilize. Use only natural, organic, boosters. Fend off slugs and little creatures that gnaw away at blossoms and stems. Resist the temptation to pluck zucchini flowers, for the result will be less zucchini. Wait it out. Be a good and patient farmer. If August does not bring results, move on. Learn from the mistakes. Start again next Spring or maybe, just maybe, gardening is not my thing. Some things are just left for God to tend.