TO PLANT A GARDEN IS TO BELIEVE IN TOMORROW - AUDREY HEPBURN

Hey everyone, do you realize the power of growing your own food? This may sound a little cliche, corny even, but until you have done just that, it's really hard to imagine and comprehend!! We live in such a fast paced life these days.

I have taken the last year or two to make a concerted effort to slow down and live a more simple but fulfilled life. I have been reading many amazing quotes of late that resonate with my soul, one as profound as the title which has the biggest influence on me at the moment because of my passion for gardening!

I will be having a child in the next month, this journey (the last 8 months) has changed me, calmed me down, settled my mind, truly made me realize that humanities insatiable desire for a better tomorrow is such a false narrative. I have and am still learning to live in the here and now. Appreciate small things, appreciate animals and nature and people, good people. Take time to breath, smell the roses, care and feel more, few of us do!

As per the title, no one truly understands this as much as a homesteader/gardener/farmer does and there are many fruits and vegetables that really 'resonate' this lesson. Watermelons. Onions, Garlic and more, but why Craig you may ask? Well simply because they take so long to grow and need so much nurturing! The above mentioned plants have such a large volume of 'organic mass' and really need much time, many nutrients in large abundant quantities throughout their growing process, but come harvest time all so worthwhile!

Nothing embodies gardening more than the title. I did a little research on this meme it was 'pegged'm by Audrey Hepburn. More on that here as per www.goodreads.com https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/831377-to-plant-a-garden-is-to-believe-in-tomorrow

A couple of great memes as per www.google.com:

https://www.google.com/search?q=to+plant+a+garden+is+to+beleive+in+tomorrow&oq=to+plant+a+garden+is+to+beleive+in+tomorrow&aqs=chrome..69i57.5241j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

The pic below we have eggplant also commonly known as Aubergine, Brinjal or Egg-Plant. I have 2 rows of these with about 10 plants per row so at the moment certainly no shortage which is nice. I simply cut them in pieces, bake for 45 minutes and add cheddar, gouda or feta the last ten minutes of cooking. A little salt, pepper and chilli sauce and you truly have a meal fit for kings, you know as the side serving to a massive T-Bone Steak of course :)

These last few pics are such a condundrum (oxymoron) but give me so much hope. How can one extract such beauty and goodness from such parched land I have been asked in the past? By paying attention to detail and giving the plant what it want's. Many folks tell me that I have green fingers, I am no more special than anyone else. I just 'feel' the plant watch it grow, it literally tells you what it needs.

Yellowing means too little iron or too much water. Wilting leaves lack of nutrients or water, mould probably too much water, Reaching or Spindly plants too little Sun, these are basic simply things that all plants will do if they are not happy, the trick is to recognize what they need and administer with haste! I guess we all have our own talents and essentially, all I am is a humble subsistence farmer?

These need no introduction as I have featured them here before. As per all my heirloom fruit and vegetables these are no ordinary watermelons. This is a mini-me. Miniature watermelon, more rounded and around half the size of the commercial shop purchased melons. In these pics I also have a Tahitian Butternut my biggest yet and a black brinjal featured above!

Been back in the garden, catching a nice suntan, connecting with the Earth and nature, it is how it was meant to be I feel and this becomes more and more apparent the more time I spend in touch with nature and my plants!

As above, who would have thought that been an amateur 'plant photographer' could be such fun? Can you spot the Carolina Reaper Plant in this pic? It is there I assure you :)

Below we have all my freshly harvested vegetables and fruit ready for cooking and eating and I certainly did, they were really tasty, so blessed!

Be the positive change you seek in the World.

Have a blessed and magical week.
Cheer$;)