Shadow Play

In the garden, as in life, shadows hold equal value to light.  Especially hard summer light filtered by strong shadows.  This is a perfect blend for me. Too much shade is a problem for a vegetable garden but no shade at all bleaches out a flower garden. (Though I use the term flower garden very loosely because as I am sure you know by now that most of my flowers are white hydrangeas. They remind me of New Zealand hill country farm houses.  They help me feel at home out here on the prairies of Illinois.) But I am as attracted to shade in my garden as I am attracted to light. One feeds the other. 

When planting a garden, your plants and trees and structures will cast important shadows. So pay attention to where they land at certain times of the day and even the year. I have two big pergolas in the gardens. These are specifically for the shade that they cast upon the house. Once the grapes grow up them and the trees behind them gain momentum, they will decrease the heat that drifts into the house by as much as 10 degrees. We don’t use air conditioning. We use shade.  Though this summer has been so cool so far we really have not had a problem with heat in the house.

Shadows also play with us. Our own shadows have gentle leads. Here I am leaning about doing not very much.

We had a couple of really good rain showers yesterday, the storms were dressed in thunder and hurling lightening,  and  drove Gracie and I inside where we cooked breads and sauces and for the first time ever Gracie followed a recipe in English and made Oatmeal Cookies.  She wants to learn how to cook American food so I thought that was a good place to start. A New Zealander  teaching a Korean to cook American is a bit of a tangle!

The majority of our tomatoes are still hanging huge and green on the vines. But this week we might warm up and with a bit of sun, with any luck, the tomatoes will start to ripen a little faster.  So far I am only making a pot of summer sauce every other day and that is much too slow.

An offer to the fellowship: My Little Sister  lives on a gorgeous farm in New Zealand and would like to invite anyone who would like to work as a volunteer on her farm this spring to get in touch.  Free room and board, a little bit of work and lots of fantastic food and walks in the country. It is a wonderful way to experience a country. So if you know of anyone who is travelling and would like to try good old fashioned farm life in New Zealand let me know and I will send you her details. You can stay in my room!

I hope you all have a lovely day.

I really, really do.

Your friend on the farmy,

celi