A Love Note in the Garden

The temperature dropped last night, giving us a long-overdue cool night here in the south. Ah. So this morning, I couldn't wait to warm up my kitchen! With a tatsoi, basil, and feta quiche in mind, I went out to the garden to harvest my greens... and look what I found! There in the mulch was a perfectly-formed heart shape, where I presume some little creature had snuggled in and curled up for a cozy night's sleep. Of course, I ran in to grab my camera.

Sometimes I wonder what my neighbors must think, as I'm always out photographing my garden. I get in some weird positions... laying down on my belly, or hovering over top of something for just the right angle. None of my neighbors even keep a garden, so I'm already that lady. The one hauling bales of straw and buckets of rabbit manure around her suburban property. The one with leafy greens, herbs, and edible flowers growing in the front yard instead of a blanket of chemical-laden grass. The one with bamboo tomato cages, and bean teepees, and veggies lining her backyard pool cage instead of manicured shrubs.

I dream of a proper yard for a garden. A little land in the country where I could really spread out, planting in raised beds and organized plots. I'd share my land with chickens and ducks, and no one would be near to raise an eyebrow when I methodically turn a steaming pile of compost with a pitchfork. Or when I spend excessive amounts of time taking pictures of a perfect head of cabbage, in my pajamas...

But I'm here, in the suburbs, in a house I never intended to stay in... and getting by quite happily nonetheless! Sometimes, instead of waiting for things to be ideal, we have to just be who we want to be, and do what we want to do, right where we are. You know... bloom where we're planted, and all that!

{Stay tuned for that tatsoi, basil, and feta quiche recipe... it's baking right now, and must be tested before shared!}