Summer is just around the corner and I cannot wait! Spring is such a tease. One minute we have a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the next day temps dip, while graupel and hail fall with such intensity you’d think you had dreamt the previous day.
This yo-yo weather continues in my region until right around the summer solstice, June 20th. While nothing is set in stone, I can pretty much guarantee there won’t be a sudden snow storm. A consistent warm breath of air is on tap with predominantly sunny skies.
By summer’s first official day, most of the hard work in the garden has been accomplished. Now it’s just time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Soon enough I will be harvesting the first crops, picking raspberries and cutting flowers.
Pre-Summer Chores
In the meantime, I like to get my lounging area set up to perfection. This means cleaning up the patio with its accumulated layers of grime. The patio furniture needs a good cleaning, as does the barbeque. The pots I have dotting our outdoor area have already been planted but I accessorize a bit more with an indoor/outdoor rug, solar lights, and assorted other garden related gewgaws.
Once we’re all set up, it’s time to invite some guests over for BBQ. I go harvest some fresh romaine to grill to accompany the trout Scott caught in the spring, which will be laden with fresh herbs from the garden.
Lovely Friend Time
While I’m in the garden I cut a fresh bouquet of flowers for the dinner table; some roses, yarrow, penstemon, cone flower, phlox, or whatever strikes my fancy. If I haven’t used them already, I might include the last of the peonies whose lives we’ve extended by refrigerating.
The music is playing, the fish smells heavenly and the wine is chilled as our friends arrive. Writing this, I can almost smell the grill already.
After a year of pandemic and far too much solitude, I am looking forward to making memories this summer with our nearest and dearest, and I hope you take advantage of this time with friends and family as well.
