Ed tells me -- working hard is good for you, but don't overdo it. He rarely comments on my choices and so I take this as a signal that I'm pushing it today. What the heck, I don't even need the signal. I know I am working too hard. And I don't have to do this. I have days before me that I could only dream of back when I was working and parenting young ones. I have time. And I use it to work too hard. Go figure.
I start early, because the morning is pleasantly cool. We're to have a spike in temperatures. Later in the day. As Ed sleeps in, I feed the animals, survey the fields, and think about where I should focus my efforts.
But first, before I start in on the flower fields, I drive down to the Farmers Market.
(It's the same route as to the bakery)
I'm there before the meters click into action (so, before 8). I want to pick up a bunch of flowers for the kitchen table. That's it. We had a veggie delivery from our CSA this week and we are well supplied with peaches, so food shopping is not on my list for today. Still, a trip to the market is so much more than just food and flower purchasing. It's a chance to see what the farmers are up to. Which veggies are in abundance, which are tapering off. And, too, I stop by and visit with Dave from the Flower Factory.
Dave kept me supplied with perennials for decades. He retired from the business of selling plants form his greenhouses, but he still comes to the weekly market with a few pots of his choice. And as always, I am tempted to add a couple to my collection. Maybe I should work in a Lupine again. And an Agastache Hyssop, because humming birds love those flowers so much (in fact it's sometimes called the "hummingbird mint"). I tell Dave that at 72, I should not be expanding flower fields anymore. I can hardly keep up with what I have now. And yet, here I am, adding more. He laughs. I'm 77, he tells me. Growing these perennials keep me sane.
Funny, I sometimes think growing so many plants at the farmette is rather insane! And yet, it's a pleasurable insanity, with high rewards.
Breakfast. I wake Ed at 9:20. I want my coffee! (With market treats and market flowers.)
And then I get to work. All day long, I stay in the flower fields.
(portions of the Big Bed are starting to bloom)
Yes, weeding. But also feeding the pots, planting a new one because I have some left over annuals, mowing our driveway, and redrawing the border for the driveway bed. (Ed, can you help me move the railroad tie out a few inches... well, maybe more than a few inches?)
By the end of the day, all the important fields are cleaned up. Indeed, things are looking so good right now, that I almost feel like I've prepped the farmette for a big celebration. And maybe I have. A celebration of summer. Of the growing season. Of life.
with love...
