City Girl in the Country Garden

One day last week I woke up with the excitement of childhood summer mornings: "Today's the day we're going to the country!!"  We visited a friend's country house & magnificent MAGNIFICENT vegetable garden. We got to sit a spell & sketch. The colors, lines & forms, lights, shadows, patterns~a bounty of brillant design!!

I snapped some photos, but to sketch, for me is to notice so many intricacies~ overlapping leaves, some torn, some with little holes in them. The variety of colors in one plant alone makes me shake my head in wonder. And, then, to sit still is to notice the movement all around:  leaves fluttering, tall bean plants & sunflowers swaying, insects going about their daily rounds.

The sunflowers are my favorite of favorites. Not just their grand height & the size of their blossoms, but their gorgeous design. Giant girls dancing along the edge of the garden, bowing and nodding, watching over it.

Each section, each view is stunning!

Oh! The squashes & pumpkins, laying on the ground, under abundant leaf awnings!

Indeed I am still a city child, not having much experience with vegetable gardening. I am totally awestruck by this magic that comes from seeds that are nurtured by caring, hardworking & knowledgeable humans!! For those of you who know Maine's singer songwriter Dave Mallet: 

"Inch by Inch, row by row, gonna' make this garden grow. All it takes is a rake and hoe and a piece of fertile ground. Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow, someone warm them from below 'til the rains come tumbling down."