The Business of Home

We pruned the flowering plum a couple of weeks ago, and I put the branches in a vase of water, set them on an old bench by my garden seedlings, . . . . . . . . and waited.

And waited. . .

And finally!!!!. . .

They bloomed! The deepest most beautiful crimson buds burst open with delicate pink blooms. They are so subtle and beautiful. They remind me of my stained glass because they change in the different light shining through the windows. They are tissue paper delicate, yet vibrant and bold with the contrast of the branches deep purple.

Spring is right around the corner. The lilacs will bloom and the roses will bud. It’s exciting to capture this little preview in my own kitchen garden. It is patience rewarded.

I love winter in our desert. It is the best time of year with the blue skies, red rocks, and especially the mild temperatures. But for every gardener, the lack of dirt under the fingernails can cause withdrawals. My solution is to start some vegetable seeds indoors.

I would love to have a greenhouse someday, and truly garden year round, but for now I am content with a couple of seed starting trays and some old benches set up in my kitchen. I purchased a shop light from the hardware store, and replaced the fluorescent bulbs with grow lights, then Mike built me a stand the length of the light, which stands about 20″ high and stretches the length of two standard seed starting trays. The stand has hooks which allow me to hang the shop light at different heights as my seeds grow.

This set up allows me to get a head start on tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and even pumpkins for our garden plot. Our summer temps really get unbearable, so our growing season is best in the late winter, early spring, and fall, and having my own little plot of green in the kitchen is a great blues chaser besides.

Looking out the window today, it feels like winter. I have on two shirts, wool socks, and can’t wait to build a fire in the wood-stove. I was anxious to sit down in the bay window and write today, but as soon as I got my computer set up, the sun went behind gray clouds and hasn’t come back. I don’t mean to complain; I know we don’t have 3 feet of snow on the ground like some, or icy winds blowing across the water to bite us, but it’s all relative, right?

I can’t believe it was only a few weeks ago this was my view. Our beautiful Mulberry tree held its colorful fall leaves long into winter this year. Usually, it is so hot here that we have a couple of days of fall then, wham, it freezes and all these leaves come down at once. This year it seemed that each leaf turned in its own time-had its own performance. And they lasted as a beautiful symphony all together for a very long time. I had lots of time to look up into the branches and remember all the laughter this tree has provided me through my children and the neighbor kids. They climbed high and hung here for hours, imagining Spaceship scenarios, Super Hero adventures, and who knows what else. I provided lots of Popscicles and Capris Suns, and just watched and smiled from my kitchen window.

The garden itch in me says it’s time to open the seed catalogs that have just started arriving, and get out the grow light. I’ll set up the seed starters on tables in the bay window and bring the sunny joy back to sitting in the kitchen and writing.