Growing: how does your garden grow?

I am a decidedly fall person. Growing up in Southern California, I never truly appreciated this about myself until I moved up to the bay area. Down here, fall is an idea. Something you're taught, something on calendars and in classrooms but rarely something understood as an weather phenomenon. As a child, fall meant school, new beginnings, no more sunburns, warmer days and cooler nights, a return to routines and friendships put on hold when I left for the summer. As an adult, it still holds many of the same charms. Yet, as I spend more time here as an adult, the subtleties of each month finds me newly impressed and excited. Now that I have a garden of my own and watch plants literally unfurl before my eyes, I have begun to appreciate other seasons in different ways.

Don't get me wrong, I still love fall. It is the time for planting natives, for sowing the seeds of my favorite 'cold' weather crops, a time for knitting and sweaters and warm cups of tea.

But June, oh, how you surprised me! I am just loving June. I wake up each morning with fog, clouds, a chill in the air. I still want my warm breakfast, a sweater, and to curl up a bit longer under the covers. Yet, by 10 it's magically sunny. And the absolute perfect temperature of all. And I get to hang my wash and sit under the apricot tree and eat green beans and peaches and listen to the happy clucking of chickens. Oh, joy.

And even my crafting has taken a turn. I reach for the oranges and greens of my landscape these days. The orange of poppies and sunshine and peaches and oranges hanging from trees. And I've actually created a piece of clothing for myself with a sun on it. A sun of all things. For she who loves a cloudy, misty, foggy, rainy day.

Needless to say, hours upon hours are spent outdoors. Sitting, eating, digging, planning, dreaming. We have Logan and Sarah come over on Mondays for a couple hours and it is heaven for all of us. Here's a brief glimpse into my morning, followed by another favorite song that I just can't stop playing these days.