see how the garden grows!!

our first little baby zucchini popped up just a few days ago...it was a miracle...happened overnight!

now, only days later, this little one has a friend...we have two baby zucchini!!!

the basil is looking healthy and growing profusely. everything is going so well!

(except for the aphids on the chives...they really like it...and luckily they haven't found anything else yet...any suggestions? we heard spraying things with chamomille tea helps).

this lucious lettuce will be ready very soon! can't wait to have a fresh salad.

i absolutely love reading a book out in my "garden." this place is so full of life and wonder.

(too bad...i just realized that i will be gone to school when the tomatoes and just about everything else are ready to be harvested. boo.)

"the spirit is a garden..."

behold!
our container gardens have finally come together.
building these and planting made for one of my most favorite
saturday afternoons of all time!

we got the wood from a friend...
it was gathering mold and silver-fish
in a dark corner of his backyard.
hooray for free wood! hooray for re-used wood!

i am so grateful that ceej is so very handy...
he whipped these boxes up in no time.
which is a very good thing, you see,
i am not a patient person,
and when i get an idea in my head
i want it done now. not tomorrow or next week. now.
and ceej delivered in an afternoon.

we bought our plants that morning from a vendor
at the davis, ca farmers market.
talk about the thrill and adrenaline of shopping...i've never been
so excited to buy anything as i was to buy
something that i can nurture and watch grow,
and will then give back in a bountiful harvest.

i demanded, like a three-year-old, that i do the digging in the dirt.
i would not let ceej touch the dirt.
{okay, well, i let him help just a little...but this is my dirt...feeling just like a three-year-old indeed}

we planted five tomato plants, all organic:
amish paste {heirloom}
italian heirloom {heirloom, of course}
nyagous {heirloom and dark purple!}
and two standard big beef tomatoes.
mmmmmmm!

we followed my mom's advice and put the cages on now,
before the plants get too overgrown and caging them in
would be too rodeo-like.



we also planted:
three red-leaf lettuce,
two kale,
a plato zucchini,
one parsley,
two basil{s},
one chive{s}.
all of this added to our rosemary and thyme.

we are so very in love with our garden...
we check it every moment and make comments like,
"the leaves on the basil look bigger already,"
"oh good, it's raining! our garden loves rain!"
"oh good, it's sunny! our garden needs the sun!"
"do you think it will get too cold tonight?"

on sunday we took a long walk in the rain.
when we came back to our garden
we found two worms nearby on the sidewalk...
so we added them to our dirt:
adam and eve.
{by the way, we know nothing of worm biology or reproduction...yet}.

i thought this passage from les miserables was oh so appropriate:
sometimes he would dig in his garden,
and sometimes he would read and write.
he had only one name for these two kinds of work:
gardening.
"the spirit is a garden," he said.

i work.
i garden:
in the dirt, in a book, on pages.

this is only the beginning...

yesterday i received this treasure of a book in the mail.
i am in love with the beautifully simple nature of its text and
its sketches especially.
this marks the beginning of my quest to learn as many names as possible
of plants, animals, bugs, etc.

it is a bit overwhelming...even with this simple book.
but, it is all so exciting at the same time.
can't wait for more field guides to arrive!
any suggestions of field guides or other such books i should investigate?

i brought new friends to my apartment to keep me company...

am very pleased to have such lovely things sitting in my window.
they smell wonderful, and i love having something to care for and learn about.
hopefully this is the start of our larger container-garden efforts.

what do you think?

there is more in the forest than we'll ever know.

we visited south lake tahoe
where we spotted a few fairies,
i think.
mostly we were happy to be outside
among the trees
and the rivers.

cj enjoyed a wee lil' bath
in the chilling river.
he couldn't stop talking about
how fresh he felt
for the rest of the day.
the river is kind like that.

oh, the road.
the west.
so may places to visit
and to know.

we spotted two snakes on this outing.
yikes!
i almost stepped on one...
close call.
my sister has a pet snake named "arthur"
she likes to call us to tell us how he's doing.

so many things are growing,
giving us life.
we couldn't do it without them.

i couldn't get over how lovely
the river was.
the sound, the smell, the icy touch.
it keeps whirling and running.

cj and his trusty graflex caputred some
sweet images.
when we get our new scanner
we'll be sharing his images.

oh yes,
we stopped for lunch.
cj's favorite places to eat are
greasy burger dives.
thank goodness for
veggie burgers!

more life.

here we are,
with the man who rides
his giant bicycle
up the canyon
and the ancient
wisdom of the trees.