Pops of Purple and Red in the Garden

Finally, July kicked off pops of purple and red in the garden. Sunday, July 2, morning harvest yielded the first Ichiban eggplant and burgundy okra for the season with more to come. Thai hot pepper plant is loaded with peppers with a few red ripe ones pulled. Melons continue to grow under my watchful eye. I’m told garden soil isn’t the sandy loamy type that watermelons prefer. Hardheaded me keeps trying. Also, read that the heat can keep tomatoes from growing and turning color. Beginning to wonder if that’s the case for my garden.

Thursday, July 6, melons are still thriving. Nice harvest of cucumbers, okra, peppers, 1 teeny tiny yellow cherry tomato, and second Ichiban eggplant. Gifted several cucumbers to a friend.

Fallen tree that stood watch over my dedicated ancestors' space was removed on Friday. Ran outside to capture a couple of shots but couldn't bear to watch its total demise. Everything is off to the side while I think of how to recreate the space without the tree.

It’s Sunday morning, hot as hell and a full week has passed with intermittent, sometimes not predictable, thunderstorms throughout the days.

Yesterday a friend and I set out to attend the Duck Hill Grassroots Blues Festival. Not even 20 minutes into the drive down US-82 a canopy of foreboding clouds began to hang over us along the way. By the time we hit Greenwood, several heavy showers convinced us that the festival was washed out. But what the hell, we drove onto Duck Hill just to see what the town looked like because neither of us had been there. It turned out to be a quaint looking little place where upon entering we stopped by an old Black man tending to his truck and asked how to get to the festival. His directions included going down to the Dollar Store, making a left turn, and driving until you see someone sitting on the side of the road collecting tickets to get in. We thanked him and my friend asked, “Do you think the festival is cancelled cause of the rain?” He replied with this mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “You think so?” We drove off laughing toward the Dollar Store and saying out loud to ourselves “He didn’t say how long we’d have to drive down that road.” But to our happy surprise, we found the spot. A slight rain was coming down and a lady with a big umbrella was packing up her chair. Amazingly people were driving into this muddy field headed to the festival area off into woods. Laughing, again, we decided in no way were we going to drive in there, get stuck, and ruin our cute sandals in the mud. However, the time was not wasted, we got to see another part of Mississippi less than 2 hours away from home.

This morning the garden greeted me with abundance. My biggest harvest of cucumbers to date, 14. Also, received 5 Clemson okra, 1 burgundy okra, 3 Thai hot peppers, 6 yellow cherry tomatoes, and 1 black cherry tomato with worm hole. Took the worm hole in stride, hoping that the other tomatoes will fare better. Thai hot pepper plant is almost a bush full of peppers. Eggplant flower is a sign of more fruit to come. The beauty of okra flowers never ceases to amaze me. Several cantaloupes in a row with one close to ripening. Watermelons still growing nicely. More Zucchini in the garden. Sweet potato plants continue to grow wild without one flower to be seen yet. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Leaving the produce garden space, I’m smiling. Off to the side blooming flowers smile back.