It’s garden time!

The seeds have been planted. They’re actually quite big right now, thanks to our very warm March. I’m afraid they’ve had a rude awakening the past couple of relatively much colder days.

The land has been turned for the first time. I can’t wait to get these babies in the ground. Gardening is one of my true joys of the spring and summer. I love taking a tiny seed, placing it in a little dirt, watering it and holding my breath to see if it grows. Because there comes a point every season where I feel totally in control. I’ve watered and fertilized. Yep, I’ve got this gardening thing down.

And then I realize that I am utterly powerless. I must force myself to let go of my egocentric thought that I had any power here in the first place. Nature has its own plan, which sometimes coincides with mine and sometimes just doesn’t.

I did it!

I grew vegetables! I picked my first three cucumbers this morning. I'm trying to come up with some method of serving them that honors their special "firstness." They'll probably rot before I figure it out. I also have tomatoes that are big and green, but should be red soon. And I have a pumpkin about the size of a child's fist. I may have planted my pumpkins too early.

Right now I'm on a quest for a pudding pop recipe. And it's not just frozen pudding. We tried that last year and it was not what we (the husband and I) remembered. I don't know if that classic Jell-O texture is recreatable, but I'm going to try.

I'm also thinking it's time to break out the ice cream maker. I don't know what I want to make yet, though. Just something icy and homemade. Right now I'm thinking chocolate gelato. My mom has requested peach ice cream, which I'm planning to do as soon as I get my hands on some fresh peaches.