why can't it rain just a little every night?

it would make watering the garden a thing of the past. watering. waking up and watering. well, at least things are growing! Can you see how big our tomatoes are? and snap peas, chard, strawberries and salad greens. it's great! and the weather here has been beautiful for days. At work we are approaching our July 4th deadline. everything must be fabulous. an extreme level of fabulous that seemed unreal to me, until now, that it is my responsibility.... Ah, my first summer on Martha's Vineyard.  The streets and shores here are flooded with the kind of people that make me wince a little at first and then cock my head to the side in confusion. heels on the beach? full make up in the sun, riding a bike? so many 'dudes' in white caps and board shorts. armored SUV's screaming up old single lane dirt roads and me. it's alarming. I'm alarmed. but it's sooo beautiful that the reason the way too rich and used to be famous flock here it vibrant and clear each lovely summer day. I love the islands farminess, it's free spirit and it's community. I love that I can come home and watch my own garden grow- this is the first time for me and it's really something to tend a garden of my own- the rewards are many and the labors are done with love. and I'll protect my plot from the raging urban SUV drivers and wait for September when they all go home.

Free Tibet/Flower Power

Yesterday was gorgeous! Inspiration flows readily on a breezy 80 degree island day. As I stepped back to survey my latest work I thought 'I love this.' I'm feeling proud and accomplished as I'm leaving and I run into a fellow green professional who tells me that in Buddhism it's believed that the purpose of flowers is to increase our ability to love. Jeez. 

Those Buddhists with their non-violence and flower love....it sort of infused me.

June is when it all starts happening man-now my little veggies and friends are pouring from the earth! I am totally stoked every time I notice a new bud or bloom or baby seed head poke out from the soil. It's just a nice feeling knowing that the seed you plant will grow. I've started them, or purchased them, planned for them, planted them, watered them, watched them, cared for and protected them....I love these guys...

Lady's slipper

I found this beauty in the woods right near our raised beds. They are all over the woods in West Tisbury. 

Cypripedium is a genus of 47 species from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) and the sole genus of the subtribe Cypripediinae. Its abbreviation used in trade journals is Cyp.

Its members are terrestrial hardy orchids that grow primarily in colder climates of the Northern Hemisphere, in North America, Europe, andAsia. Some grow in the tundra in Alaska and Siberia, which is an unusually cold habitat for orchids. They can withstand extreme cold, growing under the snow and blooming when the snow melts. But, in the wild, most have become rare and close to extinction, due to an ever shrinking natural habitat and overcollection. In the late 20th century, only a single plant of Cypripedium calceolus survived in Britain.

Common names include slipper orchids, Lady's Slippers, mocassin flowers, camel's foot, squirrel foot, steeple cap, Venus' shoes and whippoorwill shoes. The genus has a long history of use, dating back 2500 years to the Far East, where they were used medicinally.

Dinner time!

There's our Kale growing away. I planted it with dill to keep the pesties away-yum dill- and also with nasturtiums because I read in 'Carrots Love Tomatoes' that nasturtiums will begin to yellow if the soil ph lowers and that tells you to add more lime. So far so good.....

Dinner time! Camper style- delicious Kale prepared with love

Who loves homegrown kale? This guy does!