Summer Garden

I thought this week I would share some pictures from our 29 South garden.  The heat is obscene here.  After a sweltering lunch on the restaurant porch last week the thermostat in my car read 112 degrees, and dropped to a cool 105 as I cruised home.  That is with almost 100% humidity mind you.  It is disgusting. Unbearable. Maddening heat.


In this excruciating weather there is a woman who has kept our garden flourishing.  Her name is Shannon and she has been a life saver.  I want to share some of her work here...I give her full credit for taking my sprouts and nurturing them to fruit.  It is by her hand that this garden survived this season.

Like a pepper plant, Shannon is petite but has a bounty of energy.  She is a yoga teacher, volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club to help tend their garden, as well as the garden co-ordinator for the 9th Street Community Garden.  I don't know how she manages to do it all.

I put my trust in her to care for our lovely little green space, and from the Red Velvet Okra....

to the blackberry bushes which barely fruited last year, but this year are dripping with berries...the garden is gorgeous.

I took this picture last week, and now the berries are ripe and a gallon was harvested today.  It is extraordinary how quickly fruits and vegetables peak in this heat.  You have to catch them fast, before the bugs do...and luckily I have a wonderful lady who has her eye on the ball for me.  Thank you for working your magic Shannon!