It has been almost two months since I left my garden in the hands of my family. Coming home, I saw so much growth, renewed growth, perpetual growth... And abundance.
It is strange that when you see something every single day, progress seems non-existent. But as soon as that linearity is broken, change seems drastic and in your face.
When I left the garden, for instance, I cut off most of the cape gooseberries and the basil just began to shoot out flowers.
Having returned, the cape gooseberries again took over the garden pots, growing over any hope that the Swiss chard had, and the basil has flowered into a spectacle of potential seeds.
Luckily, on the side of the pot, underneath the growth of the cape gooseberries, there remains some hope for more basil. This year, I planted some of the last of my basil seeds, so I need to grow some new ones. And luckily, as can be seen below, there is a potential for many healthy and beautiful basil seeds.
Elsewhere in the garden, I also saw the abundance of lemons growing on the trees. I left the garden when there were only an abundance of blossoms. Now, there are so many beautiful lemons growing, some of the branches have 3 or more lemons growing next to each other.
And in my succulent raised bed experiment, which is also growing beautifully, there are so many plants that went to seed. What is interesting, I almost cut away all of the wild rocket. But in the two months that I was away, the growth almost exploded exponentially with every plant again going to seed. Even though I told my family to cut it back regularly, I think they did not want to do that.
Besides the swiss chard that luckily survived the heat, so many of the Garlic Chives have started to blossom into beautiful bunches of flowers that really smell like honey when you walk past them. This is a beautiful sight.
And on the front of the cuttings, almost every single one survived. There are a couple that did not make it, but that is just the name of the game.
Not all cuttings survive.
But alas, the garden is looking beautiful and I am glad to return a bit. My fingers are yearning to dig into the ground, to reconnect my body's roots to the earth, and to eat the produce that my garden provides.
For now, happy gardening and keep well.
All of the musings and writings are my own, albeit inspired by the beautiful growth of the garden. The photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300.
P.S. Below is a beautiful flower that also started to colour in the garden. It is an indigenous plant that grows throughout the area. But its blossoms are now dressing my garden in its beauty.
