Transitioning to Summer

Although you wouldn't believe it from the weather outside -- chilly and rainy -- it's time to start transitioning my garden to summer crops. My peas have joined the fava beans in flowering. Soon they will start producing pea pods, which I look forward to using in stir frys and salads. When they're done producing, I'll pull them up and put in the tomatoes and peppers. My summertime garden will consist of carrots, broccoli, onions, lettuce (warm season varieties), tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. All of that, plus the CSA I am splitting with my friend Kim, will easily allow me to locally source at least 50% of my meals.

Kim and I decided to share the cost of a 22-week CSA. We were both eyeing the huge grocery bags stuffed with produce as they were dropped off at our church last summer. There are too many veggies in there for one person, but we can easily share a bag. Our CSA will be through Seattle Market Gardens (http://seattlemarketgardens.org/index.html), a neat program by which residents of Southeast Seattle can sell the produce grown in their P-Patches. A half-share worked out to $15/week -- so $7.50/week each. This is far, far cheaper than CSAs provided by King County farms. The majority of the farmers who will be growing my food are low-income immigrants. So, I will be putting yummy veggies into my tummy. Low-income immigrants will be getting an income from selling their veggies. Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

I may plant some bush beans, too. I haven't decided yet. I'm trying to only grow things I actually eat, but I'm also trying to push my foodie boundaries. I've never been a big green bean fan...but maybe that's because I didn't grow up with fresh green beans. One time, my friend Peter and I went hiking, and he had fresh green beans with him as a snack. I swear I ate half the bag. It's possible that I don't like green beans because I grew up eating awful canned green beans. And fresh veggies are always, always, better than commercially canned stuff.

The broccoli and carrots are sprouting. My peas and beans are flowering. I'm hardening off my tomato plants. So far, I've only lost one of the tomato plants in the hardening off process -- but I was pretty sure that plant was going to die anyway. One or two more tomato plants may not make it, but I'm doing my darndest to keep them all alive and happy! My walls-o-water arrived today, and I will be setting two of them up around the Brandywine and the Yellow Pear already planted. It's cold, and my tomatoes could use little jackets!

Every day, I am amazed by my garden. I find myself going out every day -- sometimes twice a day -- to observe how different veggies grow. It really does look different each day. Today, I spent some time observing my fava beans, trying to figure out if the beans emerge from the flowers dotting the plants, or if they will emerge from the leaves' bases. From what I remember from biology, I'm pretty sure the beans will emerge from the flowers eventually. I'm trying not to be an impatient gardener -- I want my beans now!

I'm fascinated by how my peas shoot little tendrils out, grabbing onto anything they can in their quest for the sun. Some of the pea vines have attached their tendrils onto other pea vines, supporting each other and pulling those plants back that are growing in odd directions. It looks like a mini pea-vine jungle! I'm not sure how I will get the vines off the trellis when it's time to take them out -- some of the tendrils are wrapped around my ropes pretty tight. They remind me of babies, and the strength they have when they wrap their little fingers around one of your own.

The way my pea vines shoot tendrils out and support each other remind me of what friends do for each other. My friends have definitely supported me as I shot out my own tendrils earlier this spring. And I support them, too, through their ups and downs. As my garden transitions to summer, so am I, emerging triumphantly into long days and warm nights.

There's a lot to make me smile right now. I got into the UW's Special Education program. I passed my teacher exams. I'm being interviewed by UW Bothell on Saturday, and will likely get into their program. My garden looks beautiful. I am surrounded by the love of my amazing friends. I have a number of unexpected blessings surrounding me. I'm really, really enjoying my life right now.

Isn't "unexpected blessing" the definition of "grace?" May my life continue to be full of grace. And laughter. And really good food.

Love y'all.