Garlic & Gooseberries: Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere

The calendula has arrived!

I planted seeds early on, but never knew if they had taken hold, not quite sure how to distinguish their green sprouts from weeds. Suddenly though, there are beautiful orange and yellow flowers everywhere. It makes me happy to see them, bright and cheerful spots of color. Soon I will be turning them into oils and tincture, harnessing their wonderful healing properties.

I finally gave in to the seductive charm of the morning glories, allowing them to have their way with the garden. They have wound their grasping vines up and down the fences, and onto every plant, but oh, my little garden looks like a Monet painting now.

The heart shaped green leaves and the vibrant purple flowers are everywhere, and the colors are accented by the little white flowers of the cilantro, chives, arugula and mint. I am letting them all flower and go to seed, allowing nature to do what it is meant to do. I hope some of them will reseed and come back next year. Even if that is not how it works, I love watching the bees go from flower to flower, knowing my plants are contributing to some luscious honey somewhere.

I am letting the broccoli plants flower too, as the florets are covered in tiny little bugs and bug eggs. When I first discovered the sesame seed-like eggs under every leaf I thought of a friend of mine who rescues butterflies. I swallowed my squeamishness in the hopes that perhaps these eggs were the beginning of something beautiful. My kind and gentle friend hunts for eggs and caterpillars on wild milkweed, feeding them and keeping them in safe enclosures until they become adult butterflies. Then she sets them free. She told me she and her friend started to do the three R’s of Monarch work (rescue, raise and release) when they learned that only 1 Monarch in 100 survives to become an adult butterfly in the wild. What a beautiful gift to offer the world: saving butterflies.