"Flora, and Fauna, and Garden Gnomes, Oh MY!"

Dogwood in my Yard

Rosemary on my Deck

Garden Gnome on my Deck

The air was warm, the sky a vibrant blue. I pestered my husband over breakfast, "Can we go, please? Pretty please?" and batted my eyelashes sweetly at him. He totally caved and off we went to do one of my favorite weekend things...we went to our local Farmer's Market! It was our first trip of the season and let me tell you, I cannot be trusted to my own devices when I'm there. I definitely require a chaperone to keep me from buying one of everything! How can I decide between fresh, local honey, handmade soaps, and flowers in every size, shape and colour imaginable??? Besides the benefit of supporting local growers and craftsmen (which I love to do), there is always the loveliest array of fruits, vegetables and plants you can imagine! 

I'm not sure when my obsession with growing things began. Perhaps it was at Aunt Mattie's knee as she walked me through her gorgeous rose garden cutting off the faded roses, or I sat next to her on our front porch while she shelled peas, snapped beans or shucked corn (Silver Queen, which is hand's down, my favorite) and spoke to me about philosophical things (...toned down to child-level). If I close my eyes and stretch out on a fresh, cool patch of spring grass, I can imagine faeries dancing from buttercup to violet and back again as they scamper through the backyard of my childhood. I can vividly remember the taste of a tomato, just picked and warmed by the sun, sliced thick and put inside two slices of bread coated in mayo, salt and pepper. If summer has a flavor, this is it! Ohhhh how tempted I was yesterday to buy the tomatoes on display, but somewhere in my mind I heard Aunt Mattie whisper, "Not yet. They won't be 'just right' till June, July and August."

I held off on the tomatoes, choosing two rosemary containers instead. I know that even though they're small now, by summertime, they'll be full and fat, their sensuous smell permeating my deck and coating my hands as I walk by and stroke their aromatic leaves, which I can never resist doing. This year I also planted Lavender seeds. Growing things from seeds is not my greatest skill, but every spring I continue to try and coax the little seedlings up out of the rich, fresh dirt. Hopefully, this is my year to make that happen! Keep your fingers crossed! If they're not up in the next nine days (which is what the package says should happen), perhaps I'll play them some Blues!