Tthe tone in every poem, and in the closely fitting entire volume, comes like songs on the breezes of the various seasons, where we are blessed by a genuine and believable optimism once again.
I have been richly rewarded as gardener and artist for sowing winter wheat – which requires warm soil – as soon as beds were prepared after onion harvests and, especially fascinating, the rye that followed cucurbits and beans.
Onions and potatoes, tomatoes and basil, cucumbers and kale, snap beans and zucchini fill dinner plates and overflow salad plates as the growing season peaks.
Stored in a cool, dark location, green tomatoes ripen slowly and develop good flavor. Check often. I’ve enjoyed juicy Brandywines into early December.
We are fundamentally light farmers. Harvest as much sunlight energy as possible by having as much green leaf as possible — therefore as much of the year as possible.