Today's harvest---- I am forever grateful

 As I was tending the garden this morning I noticed that the potato plants had turned yellow and were dry.  That means there are most likely jewels under the earth.  It was time to look.  Yes purple and red potatoes grown under the earth in the last 4 months.  What magic!!!!

For breakfast I had 2 hard cooked eggs and a bowl of fruit: an Asian pear, plums, one nectarine and a tiny little mango....all from my garden.  Yes I ate an entire meal from this earth and farm.  Wow  So I decided to take a picture of my harvest:

harvest 8-10-2025

in the middle are blackberries surrounded by a small watermelon ( at 12 o'clock position), Satsuma and Santa Rosa plums, melon (which is now gone), Asian pears ( 5 o'clock), nectarines, yes figs, jalapeño peppers, Napa Chardonnay (yellow) and Indigo rose tomatoes  In the second circle are 3 eggs, lunchbox orange peppers, apples, purple potatoes. eggplant, green beans and a red onion, a small cinderella pumpkin and a green grey Jarrahdal pumpkin, one huge cucumber with the fresh dug red baby potatoes, again at 12/1 position are my new favorite bean: Dragon tongue sharing space with my old favorite French haricot vert and red shallots -- 24 different fruits and vegetables.  Wow.  What didn't make the shoot were my serrano and chipotle peppers, the last peach and a handful of alpine strawberries which have been gobbled up

strawberries

elderberries

I will make a syrup of these elderberries this week.

Preparing and planting a garden is a lot of work,   There are hardly any days that go by without pulling the pesky weeds.  then there is the challenge of the feral cats using every space as a dumping ground  and then Charlotte trying to roll in it.  When the apricots start ripening it's 4 solid weeks of picking and preserving them   Same with the apples this year Still at the end of the season there are so many fabulous rewards.  I will do it again next year. If you have any of these unusual fruits and veggies at your farmers market try them.  I highly recommend the Dragon tongue beans

dragon tongue bush bean

Take a deep breath

"You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."   Walter Hagen

Winter and early spring are dominated by rain, snow and cloudy days.  In Southern California we get our share of sunny warm days too but I'm posting  today because this is not one of them 

When I walk around my garden these days there is not much to look at.  I't a dormant time of year for garden plants but every once in a while I am surprised by my garden's gift.  I take a quick breath of surprise and then meet the surprise with my nose and take a deep breath.  Won't you join me?  

Pink hyacinth - deep and heady - smells a little like a lilac.

French lavender - clean and relaxing - we all love this one...especially at night before bed

pink jasmine - growing right outside my bedroom window - ahhhhhh

citrus blossoms - a California miracle !  The all begin this month.  If you don't live in a citrus area  go to your local garden nursery and see if they have greenhouse section.  This is my Meyer Lemon tree just 6 feet away from the jasmine.  It is lovely to walk down the pathway that divides them in the evening

Julie Andrews rose.  Who wouldn't put her nose into this beauty?  

Sweet peas .  Can you smell them from where you are?  My grandmother carried these as her wedding bouquet.  I make it a point to lay some on her gravesite around her anniversary(which also happens to be her birthday) each year.

So take a walk outside.  Search for natures perfume and take a deep breath