Storm Clouds - July

The gardens are at their peak and the sunflowers are just starting to show their true colors.  The hard work of the previous months is starting to bear fruit as the green beans come in and the early tomatoes tease us with a few ripe fruit.  But, the storm clouds are forming on the horizon and we know that our gardens will begin their great decline soon.

My, my.  Doesn't it sound a great deal like the farmer is being prematurely pessimistic?  Didn't he just say the gardens are looking beautiful and the harvest has only just begun?  Indeed he did.  And he is looking very much forward to all of the goodness that is to come.  But, while he does this, he also knows this cycle - he has seen it many times before.

The healthy leaf cover in the winter squash we see in mid-July will slowly deteriorate over the next month and a half as the vines concentrate on ripening fruit and spending less time on new leaves.  Broccoli plants will produce beautiful heads of broccoli that will then be cut and sold or donated.  The plants themselves will never look as good as they did in those moments just before harvest.  I know this was the purpose of growing these plants in the first place.  Yet, I cannot help but grieve a little as I recognize that the beauty they hold for that moment in July is fleeting.

One moment, the sunflowers and sweet corn are standing tall.  The next moment, a storms barrels through and flattens their once proud stalks to the ground.

In the end, the farmer reconciles all of this by cherishing that moment when he witnessed these crops in their very best clothing.  And, he reminds himself that they dress for the seasons.  While winter squash may not have the green, lush cover they had in July, they are no less beautiful when they offer up their tan fruits in early September.