July on the (back yard) Homestead

July brings on Summer's true heat. The days are long, life is lush.
I feel sexy this time of year because July is a sensual month.
The air is warm and gives my skin a taut, healthy glow.
Cool breezes are welcomed, wicking away a fine sheen of moisture from my face and dancing playfully with my hair.
The colors of the garden are varied and vibrant.
If I sit so still...I can hear each bee visit every flower.
I go barefoot - or nearly barefoot - as often as possible
and crush freshly picked sprigs of peppermint between my finger tips.

Summer is ruled by youth, abundance and fertility - the mascot of which is the raspberry.
Plumped fat and juicy by the sun's warmth yet so delicate and fragile that it could not survive the capricious volatility of any other season...and...best eaten (or gobbled up) all at once.

June on the (backyard) Homestead

Ok, so its July. Summer has just begun and its already July...but let's not go there yet. Instead, let's go back for a moment to the happy memories of June.

June, here on the (backyard) homestead was all about Strawberries! And it could not have been better timed. With the easing of winter's cold, barren landscape, we welcome Spring's new, green growth. Even the tiniest green shoot brings on waves of joy. But its June's wild burst of hot red strawberries that lures us seductively, blissfully into summer (as if we needed any coaxing).

I love food - probably more than I should - and I love feeding people. I love offering and providing food to guests. So, growing food is just a natural extension of this; I consider it the prequel, if you will, to the full dining feature.

But its more than that. There's something sensual and kinesthetically fulfilling in the experience of walking out your back (or front) door, picking something out of the garden and putting it right into your mouth. Its so immediately gratifying. Freud's theories of oral fixation aside, it seems to me that in a world where most of us crave - whether we admit it or not - instant gratification, growing your own food is instantly gratifying. (And don't even get me started on the wide variety of edible and delicious weeds! You don't even have to plant & cultivate them; they just show up ready to be eaten! But I'll save that for a different posting)

So June was about Strawberries out my front door, at my finger tips, by the mounded bowl full. We had so many that we couldn't eat them all ourselves! We had so many the bugs couldn't eat them all themselves! Even the birds and squirrels ate on our strawberries, and still there was an overflowing abundance of beautiful bright red strawberries!

June has been, of course, about other things too - lest the sexy strawberry garner all the attention. Peas (snap & shelling) lettuce, kale, chard, sorrel, and a variety of medicinal & culinary herbs have majestically graced our gardens (and our plates) so far this summer.

So, if you want a taste of satisfaction to you core, grow some food.