It was a wet walk on this Wednesday morning for the old gardener and his little Doodle puppy. Bonny wants her walk regardless of the weather and who am I to say no to her highness. I garden in the rain so I should still walk my little garden buddy when it rains. It was definitely coming down at the end of our walkabout. We heard a rumble of thunder and decided that should be the end of the walk for this morning.
The rains are more than welcome here in South Saint Louis. We have been pretty dry, and the heavenly moisture does so much more for the plants than my wonderful City water. The world is in turmoil. Our nation, our state, and our City have more than our share of problems. It seems whichever side one chooses be it the far right or the far left they are using their bully pulpits to exploit each other's eccentric ways and often evil deeds to justify their own extremes. When we lack the ability to build bridges or to even try to understand each other then we are so far removed from what the Creator intended. The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better. Just go ahead and live positively. Sit down and eat with someone you disagree with. It's hard to hate the person you're dining with. Share some homegrown tomatoes. Who doesn't love a homegrown tomato? Something we can all agree on. It's a good day for a good day. Tomorrow, we celebrate Independence Day here in the United States. We need to celebrate independence. We also need to celebrate each other and the goodness that still exists. Sometimes we have to look a bit harder to find it, but kindness and goodness are still there. Seek and you will find. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.
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The Garden Doodle and I headed outside this morning to a glorious day. 60-degrees and fair skies. A light breeze across the flowers as we began our daily walk. What a difference a week makes.
Another flip of the calendar and it is July already. The vegetables are beginning to come in abundance. We are getting basil in abundance and that means pesto to eat fresh and save by freezing for the coming dark months. The flowers are also hanging in there, albeit with a lot of watering and care but the results are so worth it! This is the time of year in the garden that has a different persuasive power. The abundance and pleasure of eating what you grow changes you in so many good ways. Things that don't always come easy like eating better starts to happen with ease this time of year because fresh, healthy food simply tastes amazing. The food we grow ourselves appeals to the best in us. A beautiful Monday morning here in the Carondelet Garden in South Saint Louis. A glorious morning with a cup of coffee and some beautiful music playing softly in the background. The newspapers are here, and it is time to settle back, read, relax and renew a bit before we dig in for the day ahead. Be good and kind to yourself this first week of July. You deserve it! That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It is cloudy and humid here in the Carondelet Garden this Friday morning in late June. The veggies are loving the weather as we have harvested the Candy Sweet Onions, cucumbers, more tomatoes and some of our sweet peppers. A beautiful site this early in the summer season.
It's a busy day for the old gardener. It's time to rehab a rose garden and the work needs to get started so I'm heading out the door! It's a good day to remember four words: "Do not be afraid." The phrase appears 365 times in the Bible. One for every day of the year. A very timely reminder today and always. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. The skies are cloudy, and the rain is coming down on this Wednesday morning in late June. What a joy to see the heavenly moisture falling from the skies. We were desperate for a break from the unrelenting heat of the past two weeks, and it arrived with a lovely, soft rain to offer a bit of balm to the garden. Blessings received!
"Into each life a little rain must fall" is a quote from the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This is especially appropriate for gardeners. A little rain must fall for the flowers to grow. The rain comes down and hope grows. The temperatures are moderating a little bit and you can feel the edginess slipping away, little by little. The balm we need when we need it most. One of my favorite Emily Dickenson quotes is this one: "Who has not found the heaven below, will fail of it above. God's residence is next to mine, His furniture is love." As gardeners we know that heaven is truly all around us rather than beyond use, somewhere in the distance. The challenge is to see deeply enough to notice it. Open my eyes, Lord! It's a perfect nap day. A perfect day to relax just a little. A perfect day to truly see deeply and take all of it in. All of it. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It is a hot and humid morning here in the Carondelet Garden. The sun is shining brightly and the watering continues. The flowers are still hanging in there and loving the extra attention. Here's a bit of sunny yellows to celebrate Monday morning!
A busy week ahead for the #supercoololdpeople here in Carondelet. Heading to visit the doctor for my annual checkup and get those prescriptions refilled. Better living through chemicals. Probably not, but it keeps me going. The little Garden Doodle visits her friend Maggie @the_matted_doodle this afternoon for her spa day visit. Dentist tomorrow. It just keeps going. Get it done and move on, I say. It's a good day for a good day. Be careful outside, stay hydrated. Rest often. There is already a heat advisory for Tuesday. Be good to yourself this week! That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. The weather seems to be the same day in and day out lately. Hot, humid and sunny with a few partly cloudy moments. The watering regime continues today but the results are pretty amazing. It's a pink-purple day here in the Garden and the flowers are lovely!
I know that gardening changes my sense of the everyday. It awakens something inside of me that sees more than just things, and beyond things as I gain new insights about life, about new feelings, and a growing sense of serenity. If we make ourselves a seeker of beauty and create a garden that is, truly, a holy site that rejects the tawdry, the artificial, and the vulgar we will find the serenity we are looking for. Let us rejoice and be glad. The weekend is almost here with Farmers' Markets and Makers' Fairs. A great time to visit and discover the best this amazing City has to offer. Be good and be kind to yourself this Friday in Ordinary Time. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. A warm, humid, overcast morning here in the Carondelet Garden. Did I mention it was humid? Oh, my goodness. The heat is hanging around after a bit of a respite yesterday. It looks like 90-plus for the next fourteen days. Water, water, water those plants!
I am in love with our Calla Lillies this year. Calla lilies, with their elegant tubular shape and fantastic colors (not just white!), add grace to perennial gardens, patio containers, and cutting gardens in the summer; their blooms last for weeks, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. Calla lilies are not true lilies; however, they can be grown as annuals or in containers. Planted in spring, the flowers bloom for 6 to 12 weeks through the summer. We have taken a chance the last couple of years and left them in the ground over Winter and have had amazing results. Gardening, like life, is a bit of trial and error. We celebrate the successes and mourn the losses and in-between we carry on. A lot of the success in growing anything well is a simple blend of confidence and intuition. You win some, you lose some, and you learn as you go. The right answers are very few and are usually much less interesting and informative than the right questions. Failure teaches us so much more than success. As we have learned over the years, you never really know a plant until you have killed it twice! We all make mistakes all the time. The key is learning from each and every mistake. We won't make that mistake again. We will make new ones! I have some watering to do. A bit more weeding. I think my onions are just about ready to harvest. It's been a very early year for so much. A bit of work, a bit of rest, a bit of faith and hope. Life and gardening require all of the above. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It is a muggy morning here in the Carondelet Garden in South Saint Louis. Another day with 90-plus degrees and bright sunshine. The watering regime continues as this hot spell enters week two with no real relief on the horizon.
It is definitely summertime in the city. The heat island has built up and the humidity has definitely taken over. The little Garden Doodle is not a fan of this heat. She has quickly become an inside dog during the heat of the day. I can't blame here as my gardening has entered the early morning, late evening routine to avoid the hottest parts of the day. The good part is a nice nap in the afternoon! The tomatoes are loving these warm nights. We were able to harvest our first ripe Brandywine tomato over the weekend and enjoyed it on a lovely BLT! Is there anything better than a home-grown tomato on a wonderful Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich? Maybe, but not a lot! As I continue to grow older, I am enjoying the simple things in life more and more. A morning walk, an afternoon nap, food I grow myself, a little less stuff and little more living. Simplicity may be the most radical thing we can do right now. Living simply outside the whole system of greed, over-consumption, and hatred. The older I get the more I realize that we live in either an attitude of gratitude or an overall attitude of resentment. We get to choose. I am choosing gratitude. It's not always the easiest choice but I'm happier when I do! It's a good day to be a little kinder to ourselves and others. We all need a bit more kindness and gratitude in our lives right now. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. It is warm and sticky outside as the Garden Doodle and I went on our morning walk this Ordinary Friday in June. It appears the heat will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. That means the watering regime has begun. It adds an extra hour to the garden schedule every day as many pots and raised beds are hand-watered to prevent issues. It's time consuming but worth it!
Spending so much time watering and walking around the garden it is worth it to pay attention to this amazing creation we are given to care for. The simple, ordinary task of taking notice of the glorious life around us is in inherently life-giving. It reminds this old gardener to take that moment to reflect and see the ways God is working my life and allow for a gentle, growing gratefulness to sprout up in place of the weeds of bitterness and resentment. It is a good day for a good day. A glass of iced tea this morning instead of hot coffee. Some beautiful music playing on the old SmartSpeaker. The newspapers are waiting to be read. Have a great weekend! That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. A bright, sunny start to the day here in the Carondelet Garden. The Garden Doodle and I went out for our morning walkabout and the humidity was already beginning to show itself. The watering begins with the parterre garden this morning. The heat looks like it's going to stick around for the next couple of weeks. Hello Summer in Saint Louis!
One of my favorite things about gardening is growing fresh vegetables to enjoy. Dr. B in her @carondeletkitchen is a wizard at coming up with unique and wonderful dishes utilizing whatever comes in from the garden. Fresh is best and we are coming into a bounty of goodness. Unfortunately, the hailstorm took out the rest of the Snap Peas and destroyed our Blue Lake Beans. Such is the life of an urban gardener. There will always be next year. Gardening is a great teacher. We learn that we set our self-up for failure if we assume everyone around us expects us to forge forward without setbacks or shutdowns. A garden is simply a series of losses set against a few triumphs. Not unlike life itself. A beautiful, warm, sunny mid-week Wednesday here in South Saint Louis. We continue on in faith, with a bit of hope and as much love as possible this week. Be good to yourself and others as you travel about. That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden. |
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