Summer thunderstorms being thunder showers and the rain that fell this past week was a real relief for drought stricken Central Kentucky. We have had about 3 inches in the last 10 days and things are looking up! The moisture is not enough to officially end the drought, but the gap is closing. It was sufficient to to reprieve a passal of cantalopes from an unsatisfactory end. The grass in the yard is starting to grow a bit and the weeds in the garden have really taken off. The ground was too muddy to hoe for several days and now the weeds have the upper hand, but not for long. It is a never ending battle. I picked the first cantalope (muskmelon, really) tonight and ate it hastily in an of orgy of melon consumption. Fresh off the vine, fruit of the earth, Gods Bounty.
Gardening is a love-hate thing with me. It can be wearisome keeping the weeds at bay and seeing your produce being nibble to death by deer and rabbits. It is a joyful thing to get hands in the good earth and feel its warmth in the spring after a long winter. Its good to get your feet dirty and your hands filthy and the soil packed under your fingernails and ground into your jeans. God's goodness is in the ground. I can smell it.
The tender sprouts come up just when you thing nothing is going to happen. The tiny plants wait and wait and then explode in growth spurt that is amazing. All the viney stuff does this; cantalopes, watermelons, squash of various kinds, and pumpkins. My favorite, pumpkins. Great huge leaves and great grasping, muscular vines. You can almost see them grow day by day.
And in the fall, God willing and the blight don't come, I will have pumpkins to distribute at work for all the kids. Jack-0-lanterns. That is a lot of fun.
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