Garlic and Gooseberries: New Life

A very exciting day at the garden! I visited a few days after the rains from hurricane Arthur had passed, followed by temperatures in the 80s and 90s, and I could practically hear the plants growing. First of all, it had become obvious which of those new shoots were weeds, and which were not. Hallelujah for clarity. A helpful couple harvesting green beans and lettuce from their lush plot across from mine gave me a general rule of thumb: if it’s growing really fast, it is probably a weed! Good to know.

As I pulled up the new vines and clover covering the ground I made definite cilantro and red kale sightings. The spinach is still a bit of a question so I will wait and see. It may just be too warm for that cool weather crop.

My joy at welcoming the first zucchini, eggplant and squash flowers was actually a bit embarrassing and my weed consultant neighbors smiled indulgently as I photographed these beautiful signs of new life. I got excited too by the re-growth of lettuce leaves on the stalks from which I had harvested the heads of romaine we found growing when we first started: beautiful, tender, tiny light green leaves rising amongst the wilted remains left behind. A miracle.

In pulling up weeds I knocked over a piece of wood used as a path between the spinach and the kale, and I yelped. In fact, I used language that would be inappropriate in a family blog. There were thousands of black ants scurrying about, suddenly exposed to the sunlight. I had known there was an anthill there, but what shocked me was a huge pile of what looked like perfectly formed grains of rice being moved with amazing speed deep into the bowels of the earth by dexterous and industrious ants. I have since learned those grains of rice are pupae, from which will eventually emerge a huge new populations of black ants. The thought makes me queasy.

I covered them back up with the board and scurried off myself as thunder and lightning informed me Mother Nature would be doing the watering that day. Those cohabitants of my plot and their own celebration of new life are not entirely welcome, as they give me the heebie-jeebies, but I will do my best to live and let live.

Cilantro