growing things

Hello again after a looong absence! Believe it or not, less than 24 hours after writing my last post I gave birth to an absolutely scrumptuous little girl. I was going to write about her today, and post a photo - after all, she too has a transitory, almost illusory presence in the Now - always changing, growing, becoming a new version of herself .... but I've decided to write a little bit about my garden instead. This summer I grew my first vegetables! It wasn't my first try, but it was my first success ... sort of! I managed to grow one eggplant (for some reason the flowers weren't pollinated ... the bees were scared of my plants ... but I have a winning way with a paintbrush ready to assist the bees with their pollinating business next season); lots of tomatoes; a pile of parsley and basil; several pepinos; loads of spicy peppers; a bunch of strawberries; and the beginnings of a pumpkin! And, sadly, no success with my zucchinis whatsoever. But, despite my limited success, I feel such an ENORMOUS amount of pleasure in growing food from tiny little seeds, into great galumphing plants. There's something wonderfully magical ... yet absolutely right and normal ... about planting a seed in some dirt, watching the leaves emerging, the plant growing, the emergence of fruit. It's beautiful. So here's a couple of photos - the beginnings of my solitary aubergine, and a couple of my first peppers.