squash blossoms and
purple potato flowers

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

I could have titled this REFLECTING ON JUNE, but I am so excited and inspired by the plethora of new flowering veggie plants in my garden that I couldn’t help myself. After a wonderful and rather dry spring, my plants that I have been growing from seed are starting to take off. I have been a bit concerned about their small size, but I think a lot of that has to do with growing directly outdoors from seed.

My efforts are starting to pay off because my potatoes are flowering, and so are my squashes!

Good morning squash! I will head off to work while you do your thing.

Squash blossoms are so beautiful. They have this amazing deep, vibrant yellow color that I wish I could replicate on a bedroom wall somewhere. “Mix up the squash blossom yellow, please!”

Did you know you can pick the squash blossoms and eat them? I know… it seems a little strange. I have actually never done it, and this is my 4th year growing zucchini and summer squash. But I always read about yummy recipes with squash blossoms in them. Sometimes freshly picked, sometimes stir-fried, sometimes fried… but they always look yummy. Maybe I will get up the nerve and actually pick one or two to eat this year.

But they are so pretty to just look at!

I am still not sure if this first blossomer is a zucchini or a summer squash, I really don’t remember what I planted where. It was a windy, rain-threatening day when I was out planting the seeds. Soon I will see the start of an actual squash, and then I will know. And I will photograph to share with you.

In the foreground is a cucumber plant. Starting to vine out!

My cucumber plants are lengthening which means I need to trellis them. And I need to figure out a taller, sturdier trellis than my sugar snap pea experiment. Because, sadly, my sugar snap peas have gotten to the end of the trellis ladder and have nowhere else to go. I think they may be at the end of their flowering journey for this round. Sad.

Next time I will get a taller trellis. Next time I will give them more growing space. All things you learn along the way.

Which brings me to my reflections on June. I didn’t reflect on May, but I need to take a step back and gather my thoughts. June was an inadvertently stressful month as we really got into pregnancy talk. The real deal. The what ifs. The actual what are we doooooing???? We did not get pregnant this month, but we had a week of uncertainty and it really took over our thinking. Now we are definitely thinking about the future in much more concrete, ACTUAL terms than we were previously.

I joke with Craig about the whole P90X workout fascination. No, I’m not planning on doing P90X. I’m doing PRE-PREGNANCY 90 DAYS EXTREME. As in, get my butt in pre-pregnancy shape over the next 3 months. Running. Lifting weights. Medicine ball. Sleeping way more. Stressing way less. Eating berries and whole foods. Laughing. Traveling. Enjoying. Relaxing. Being good to my body. Getting rid of bad habits. That’s my P90X. I was mortified at the thought of being pregnant because my body and my mind were not in the place I wanted them to be. And while I’ve been repeatedly told and reminded that it will never be perfect, I know me and I know that I have to be in a better metal/physical/spiritual place.

So I am so glad I have time, and this month has given me a lot to think about and improve upon. I’m not beating myself up. I’m just being realistic. You get out of your body what you put into it, right? And for the past few months I haven’t been treating my body… or my mind… particularly well. And I deserve better. I already know a lot of what I need to do to feel good. I need to run. And run CONSISTENTLY. I need to worry less about things I cannot control. I need to forgive. I need to let go. Blah blah blah… on and on.

I need to get real about what I want, that is for sure. I have to be more honest with myself, hold myself lovingly accountable. In the middle of a work week I’m not necessarily my own best friend. I’m clawing my way along trying to get by. I’m going to have to try a little harder to keep myself active, put nourishing foods into my body, not pop open a bottle of whine (pun intended), and GO TO BED at a reasonable hour. It shouldn’t be so hard, but when you’re in that cycle/routine it can be.

On the positive side (cause I always seek the positive… really I do try!) June was a lot about starting to eat right from the garden! Radishes first. Then broccoli rabe. Then lettuces, baby spinach, and sugar snap peas. The harvest so far has been amazing. I’ve never grown lettuces in so many colors and shapes and varieties. Squiggly and wavy deep maroons, vivid forest greens, bright yellow-limes. So yummy all of them.

And the sugar snap peas are straight out of garden bliss. Screw paying $4.99 a pound for sugar snap peas from Guatemala at the supermarket! You can EASILY grow them from home from seed! And I paid $1.49 for the entire organic seed package. I planted 12 plants, gave my sister a bunch of seeds, and I still have a huge amount of seeds leftover to plant again in the fall. And home-grown sugar snap peas are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted! It’s a small miracle that any of the picked pods ever make it inside to the salad bowl… they are that good!

While I could go on and on about garden veggies… June was also about hanging out with my nephews and really delighting in their amazingness and reaffirming just how unbelievably awesome children can be. Between soccer games, bouncy ball games, ice cream fieldtrips, overnight stays, and surprise work visits, I really had a chance to bond with my nephews this month. And I also got to feed and burp my baby nieces. Granted they are less interactive than my nephews at this point, but it is amazing being around so many kiddos. It has been such a delight and encouragement for me.

June started with garlic scapes shooting up from the garlic stalks in my garden, curling this way and that. The garlic scapes are now long gone (in my belly!), and in their absense I’m enjoying an incredible wave of potato flowers.

Do you think purple flowers means purple potatoes?

I have no idea how long this parade of flowers will continue, but I hope it will be around for awhile. I love the colors and shapes of these flowers. I love that summer is here. I love coming home to extra hours of sunlight, warm breezes, and the activity of birds, squirrels, neighborhood cats, and even the dreaded chipmunks in our yard. Summer is such a gift. It is filled with delicious scents when you go running and take in BBQs and blooming flowers. It is easy to stay up late when you don’t get around to making dinner until after 9 p.m. It’s just so reaffirming to have a whole other post-work shift when the sun is still up and the outdoors is calling.

June, I will miss you. But here comes July with even warmer temps, thunderstorms, fireworks, fireflies, our first wedding anniversary, drinking a cold beer with a freshly cut lime on the screened-in porch, farmer’s markets, home improvement projects, vacation planning, and who knows what else.

But for now I am so content to delight in purple potato flowers.

What a beautiful shade of purple. Slightly lilac. Slightly violet.

Tags: gardening, gratitude, potatoes, summer, summer squash, zucchini
Posted in The Daily Balance, The Growing Season | No Comments »