This post by L.Leander, Author of Fearless Fiction
It’s time for planting and all around us are farms with tractors making rows and planting seeds. The smell of the fresh dirt never ceases to make me feel good – a deep earthy scent that you know will soon yield crops.
We have many Amish farms in our community and we see them with teams of horses and discs as they prepare their own fields for planting. It’s like being in a time standing still but I’d venture to say a lot more work than the farmers using machinery.
We’ve been planting, too. Last year my husband planted a wildflower garden for me just like one my mother had at our farm when we were young. It was such a good feeling to see and smell the flowers and watch them sway in the breeze and open up to the sun. This year we cleaned up our rock garden at the lake and totally planted all wildflowers. I can’t wait to see it bloom. Our tulips are up and beautiful as are our daffodils. Some of last year’s flowers are popping up through the ground and each day they get a little taller.
Ralph has planted his favorite (hollyhocks and sunflowers). Last year he had twelve, eight, six and four foot sunflowers that were grand. They are majestic and this year he planted all the seeds he took off the heads, plus more packages. We may end up with a back yard full of sunflowers!
When I was a young wife and mother I loved putting up food for the winter, but I wasn’t so good in the garden. The want-to was there, but I didn’t seem to have the know-how and a lot of my plants died. Thank goodness for a mother-in-law who grew a huge garden and gave me lots of fresh vegetables and fruits to can.
I’m lucky to have a husband with a very green thumb. We’ve given up planting vegetables and fruits and switched to flowers. I do a lot of the prep work and I love raking and clearing the spots for seeds to be sown. I even got to plant a few seeds of my own, with Father Nature standing over me, of course.
Now all there is to do is wait. Flowers, vegetables, fruits – all reaching to the sun and begging for gentle rain. I can’t wait for the corn to be ripe because in our area there are big corn roasts almost every weekend when it’s ready. Nothing better than getting an ear of corn from the roaster, dipping it in a can of melted butter and standing around with friends laughing as the butter drips down your arms 0nto the ground.
I’m ready to enjoy summer (already have a hoarde of books to read, writing, knitting, coloring, journaling and sewing). We are moving to the lake lot next week and won’t move back home until October 15. What I most look forward to in the summer is the sound of loons on the lake, geese returning home, red-winged blackbirds, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, cardinals and blue jays all chattering at the bird feeder, plus the squirrels and chipmunks yipping and gathering peanuts in their cheeks. Throughout all this gentle patter I sit on the deck, watch the lake, and listen to children laughing as they play in the water while I read. Ah, the glory of it all!
L.Leander is the author of the Inzared series (available on Amazon):
Inzared
Inzared the Fortune Teller
and books for authors (also available on Amazon):
10 Extreme Tips to Publishing an e-Book
10 Extreme Tips to Marketing an e-Book
She may be found on these locations:
L.Leander Books on WordPress.com
L.Leander on Facebook.com
L.Leander on Amazan Author Page.com
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Check out L.Leander’s book videos on YouTube.com
Writing Wranglers and Warriors 
One thing I really miss about living on my own is having a garden. I can help my dad with his, but there’s something about having my own plot and picking out what goes in it and how to arrange it every spring is just so satisfying. Not nearly as satisfying, though, as tasting that first homegrown tomato.
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You’re right about the tomatoes, Joe. We always include a couple of tomato plants because we also love fried green tomatoes. When our flowers and other things bloom and yield fruit or fragrance it makes us happy! Thank you for the comment.
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Oh, my, Linda, I want to sit on that deck at the lake with you right now. I presume there’s no mosquitoes? You have wonderful descriptions and paint wonderful pictures with your words. My mouth is now watering for that corn, and I can smell the fresh earth and see the little green seedlings coming up in the warm sunshine, just by reading your blog. You make summer sound truly wonderful.
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We don’t have many mosquitoes where we are. Most of them stay back in the woods where most of the other campers are. We do have ticks in the spring, though and have to watch out carefully. Our summers are delightful and I cannot wait to sit on the deck and read. We bought a Club Car last year and like riding around through the campground to visit friends. Patty enjoys it and often stands by it and barks so we’ll take her on a ride. She’s too short to jump in. Thank you for commenting – come along and join me on my deck any time!
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I am so happy you have the option to spend time doing what you love. It is a gift to watch new life grow before our eyes. Have a wonderful summer. Doris
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Thank you Doris. Summers are so special after the grueling Wisconsin winters, although I also like winter. You’re right – summers are a gift and one I thank God for every day!
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What a lovely picture you paint, Linda. I’m hungry for that fresh off the cob corn since we only tend to get well travelled corn cobs in Scotland. Your summer sounds so peaceful and relaxing- I hope that you squeeze in some writing too if the mood take you. My daffodils are still blooming very late in the season and I planted some sunflowers last week, though only 6 ft high ones since we don’t tend to get enough sun for the really giant varieties. Have fun!
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Thank you Nancy, we will have fun. I had never attended a corn roast until I moved to Wisconsin after I married Ralph. You actually have to be careful walking because the ground is slippery with butter. The corn is fresh, of course, since it’s grown locally, and it’s one of my favorite things. I cannot wait until our first corn roast of the year – mmmm, I can taste it now!
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I love Spring too (who doesn’t) but I’ve never been much of a gardener. Did plant vegies a few times when the kids were little–got lots of tomatoes and zucchini. But never did much in the flowers way.
Now it turns out the former owners of our new house were into gardening in a big way! We hired a gardener to come twice a month (very small lawn) and he’s taken care of the basics. Unfortunately I haven’t been up to doing much, so I just let the plants do their own thing, partly because I have no idea what most of them are when they aren’t blooming. So far, they seem okay but soon I’ve got to get out there with a gardening book to identify and figure out how to care for them. While I love our woodsy setting and all the pretty flowers right now, I’m not sure if I’m up to a lot of work. 🙂
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The flowers definitely take some work in the spring and I get exhausted, so it’s probably something you’d want to do in small chunks of time, if at all. I don’t have to worry about identifying the plants because Ralph is an expert at them. I think I forgot to mention in my post when I said I have absolutely no green thumb, that one year I tried growing quite a large garden. I had no idea what I was doing and nothing grew – except pumpkins. I was so proud of those big round orbs lighting up my garden that I hated to pick them. I finally did, however, and canned all of them. Have a good summer Kate, and take it easy.
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Linda, what a beautiful post! I could hear the loons, see the chipmunks, and feel the coolness of the lake water. I would love to visit you one day and sit with you and visit and share writing. Perhaps one day as I enjoy the Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa region, and I’d like to return one day for book events. Perhaps in the not so distant future, that can happen. Meantime, enjoy your lakeside oasis and may many spring, and summer blessings, be yours!
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Thank you Gayle, and I’d always love to have you! I can’t say enough about our deck and it’s basically all mine, because my husband prefers to watch television inside when he’s not working in the yard. He wears a headset and I sit out on my chair with a glass of tea and read to my little heart’s content. Sometimes I just watch the children play in the water – I love the sound of their laughter and it’s so much fun to watch them jump off the raft. Brings back memories of my own childhood.
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I loved the beautiful bird photos, Linda. I’m not around a lot of farms (and never have been) so have no clue what the smell of freshly plowed earth smells like! It’s sad really. I absolutely love fresh tomatoes from a garden but unfortunately I do not have a green thumb. Luckily we have wonderful farmers markets here where I buy Japanese tomatoes every week.
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I hope you get to go on a road trip to experience what Linda is talking about. I was raised in the country. Cherl’ey
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I grew up in Michigan farmland and now live in Wisconsin farmland, so my experiences are probably different than a lot of people have. I’ve milked many cows, chased bulls out of the pasture, ridden horses, shoveled cow manure and helped with haying. I’ve always loved the smell of the farm and it’s lucky because I’m married to a farmer! Those Japanese tomatoes sound good!
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What would we do without our farmers? Love browsing a farmers’ market, looking for organic vegetables and fruits. In Wallace, North Carolina, this weekend was the Carolina Strawberry Festival, always a fun time and an opportunity to buy some delicious strawberries. I can almost taste those strawberries and the jam they make.
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I think they have a big one in FL. Cher’ley
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We live in a very small town but every town has its Farmer’s Market, run mostly by the Amish. Fresh Amish pies, beautiful produce – can’t beat it!
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My ancestors were Amish/Mennonite out of NE Ohio.
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As everyone has said, you add magic to Spring. Thanks for letting us know what to look for. You’re lake sounds wonderful. Where is it located? Love your photos. Cher’ley
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We live on Kinney Lake in the summer, which is exactly 12 miles from home. But, it’s like you’re in another world at the lake. It does allow us to come home once a week (on Monday) for my therapy, laundry, and mowing. Then it’s back out to heaven!
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When I was a child, summer meant field corn, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas from the farm, plus watermelons from the fields about ten miles south, and peaches from the Texas Hill Country. I’d love to have a taste of “horse corn” again, since all we get now is the sweet variety. Thanks for the memories.
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Sounds like you have a wonderful summer planned. This spring I finally had flowers blooming here at the new house. Yes I still refer to it as the new house, although this is our third summer here. The yard is finally coming together and I also have blooms swaying in the breeze.
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