Our first couple tomatoes have ripened on the vine! And look at these gorgeous eggplants just begging to be picked, plus a few more green peppers. I sense another big recipe in the works.
Creativity /
I may not have much to offer by way of competitive stuff at a state fair. My garden is small and my vegetables are smaller. But I’m content with my lot when it comes to creative ability. In fact, I’m more than happy just to be able to draw connections between life’s many forms of making—making art, making food. I’m making a mark on the world, and in turn I’m letting the world make a mark on me.
Fair /
Time for a local tradition: the 80th annual New Mexico State Fair! It’s a first for us as relative newcomers to the state, but I grew up counting the days to the local fair back in my hometown in New York, and this one has everything I need to fulfill my nostalgic cravings: fried dough, blinking lights, a petting zoo, live music, and not one but two Ferris wheels.
Nationwide, the custom of annual fairs has gotten pretty commercialized and greasy since its roots as a harvest festival, but beneath the glitz and gimmicks it still has strong ties to agriculture and husbandry. Where else are hardworking farmers and ranchers, so far-flung in their fields and grazing lands all season, going to get together to show off for one another? Long live the blue ribbon prizes for best vegetables and horsemanship.
Blossom /
Apparently this is the week for sunflowers! Two more have blossomed in the last couple days, both of a smaller red variety, joining the classic yellow face from yesterday. Shine on with the sun, everyone!
Bloom /
Wait /
It’s the waiting game again. Five months ago, after seeds had been planted, the wait was to see whether any new life would emerge and make it to maturity. Things are much less nerve-wracking this time around: we have new melon blossoms appearing to replace the fruit we harvested and ate, more and more green tomatoes ripening on the vine, baby peppers and eggplants growing, a third pumpkin starting to yellow, and our first sunflowers about to open. Still, aside from check that they have enough water between rainstorms, there’s once again nothing to do... but wait.
Watch /
I’m not the only one in the house who prefers open windows and the cooler weather that makes them possible.
Sleep /
It’s been nice, these last few days, to sleep with the windows open and listen to a cold wind blow through the night.
Labor /
Happy Labor Day, everyone! Thank you to those who fought over the decades to secure the safe, fair working conditions we so often take for granted today.
Drizzle /
And now for something we rarely experience here in New Mexico, where rain tends to come in bursts and showers, and then be on its way: drizzle. A steady trickling of raindrops that lasted several hours against a gray sky. Wow. I imagine my garden loved drinking that in.