Joy in The Garden



I just love the bright yellow sunflowers we plant each year. They just cheer you to look at them. We have planted sunflowers for many years, its our way of having good organic bird seed for the cold months for all the birds that visit our feeders. Of course the added benefit, is having the beautiful colors of the flowers along our garden fence line.
After the heads have dried, I pick the seeds off of most the plants but some I leave just to be able to watch the birds pick them clean without any help from me.
When picking the seeds off, I love to sit at the table in the yard, under the cottonwood tree, wind gently blowing the leaves above me, the sun warm but with a hint of cooler weather ahead. It's one of those jobs that makes you feel the need to hum some favorite hymn or old folk song while you are working as if there was no possible way to keep that song in your heart from bubbling over. Perhaps a true sign of being content. I store the seeds in one of our feed bins, which is just an old 55 gallon drum with a tight lid on it.
Running your hand through the seeds after they have been stored, makes a funny sound, maybe a bit like the sound of cascading shells, the tiny ones you find along the waters edge. I can hear it so plainly in my mind as I write these words, but not easy to describe.
Much of life is that way, you can almost feel, see and hear a memory but putting it into words always falls a bit short in capturing what you want to describe.
Our eggplant is growing so well in this dry heat. They like this weather. So many yummy meals will come from these simple plants.
It would be difficult for me to live where we had no garden, or land to roam. Each day brings so many gifts from the Creators hand. His fingerprints all around me, reminding me of His tender love.

our garden
the sunflowers
eggplant

Comments

Leah Spencer said…
Ohh, how I do love sunflowers! They were my nemesis for quite a few years! I was trying so hard to grow them from seed, but they were puny little sad things, and most of them didn't flower.

Then my parents moved and I got lots of garden space, planted sunflowers and they grew wonderfully!! Some were over 13 feet tall.

I also had a sunflower themed wedding... definately my favorite flower. I hope to see many more sunflower pictures. :)
R. Aastrup said…
Now that you've left MA, it's scorching hot, somewhat like what I remember Texas is like in the summer, although I expect it is more humid here. It was 93 in Boston today! Yikes!!!

I love your sunflowers! I fell in love with that amazing flower when I was in France two years ago. They are everywhere, and of course Van Gogh and Cezanne and others painted their love for them...

I want a garden!!! Living in a condo has it's benefits, but no gardening isn't one of them =(
Unknown said…
I love your sunflowers - we have a short row of them in the garden - I say row very loosely as they're planted a bit at random - this is because they're actually freebies from the sunflower seeds dropped by the little piggies (sorry greenfinches) on the feeders - ours aren't ready to flower yet but about 3 ft tall - I've never grown them before but will definitely be planting them deliberately next year

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