10/13/2007

garden rainbow

I've been a bit depressed about living in SoCal for a few weeks, ever since we returned from Boston, really. I felt like I wanted to flee away to somewhere with four seasons, somewhere where people wear wool. All of your lovely pictures of autumn leaves made this longing even more intense. I wanted to look out my window and see red and orange and not green, green, green.

So this was on my mind as I was in my garden a few days ago. I decided to go on a hunt for color, to see just how many different shades I could capture in 15 minutes in my plot. Below are a few of the results:

PURPLE
iris

RED
pepper

PINK
pink and blue

ORANGE
almost orange

YELLOW
yellow and curly

GREEN
berry-to-be

BLUE
blue gate

After I came home and sorted through my photos I felt a bit better. I made myself a big salad with garden lettuce and thinly sliced up a zucchini and drizzled it with a bit of flavored vinegar & oil and spiced with some cracked pepper (yum).

True, we have little seasonal variety here--just a range of somewhere in the 70s and 80s year-round, but the local food is good and the gardening opportunities abound. I suspect that someday we'll be living somewhere we I get true seasons again. But for now I'll stop complaining and just enjoy being here. :)

9 comments:

SoCalSingleMama said...

Ahhh, great minds must truly think alike becaue I woke up this morning and thought to myself "I am very homesick for fall." I emailed my sister in Provo and asked about the weather (I'm visiting there in a few weeks and hoping for snow) and put a fall picture of Mt. Timpanogos from the Wastach range in Utah as the background on my computer screen.

And started listening to Christmas music.....ummmm, don't ask.....

Your pictures are beautiful and a good reminder that summer weather in October isn't the worst thing in the world. :-) Besides, the rain has been nice, don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jana,
I was born and raised in Texas where we had snow on the ground maybe three times in my first 18 years. Then I went east to college, married, and lived in northern Virginia for 30 years, raised my children there, then moved to CA 10 years ago! At first I missed the fall very much as does my sweet hubby, who, BTW, always wanted to retire to Vermont :-). Now though I am acclimated to CA and yes, I love it when the fall rains start and the hills begin to turn green. It's not the fall color I loved in the east, but it's our CA fall/winter color. This week I made pumpkin bread and pumpkin bisque, and today I watched all the hummingbirds feeding like crazy in my backyard -- we have some arbutus trees whose blossoms they dearly love -- and I thought, "It doesn't get much better than this."

Carolee said...

I woke up envious this morning, remembering my conversation late last night with my daughter who lives in Boston. She told me about how their Saturday was a crisp, clear, perfect fall day and they went apple picking and came back with lots of different varieties of apples and she was now making applesauce and pies and all kinds of apple delights. I want to be there too! But your pictures are great and remind me that there's beauty everywhere and we need to look for and appreciate what we have around us. No fall weather here in Lagos and the apples and soft and bland and expensive -- but I can get a great fresh pineapple.

John White said...

You know, this is the second time in the past week someone's talked about apple-picking as if it's some kind of wholesome activity. No matter what any of you say, I still think apple picking is code for "take a walk and smooch."

Gray said...

A present from New England:

Northern Spy
*Newtown Pippen
Roxbury Russet
Fameuse
Pomme Gris
Winter Banana
Ashmead's Kernel (my favorite)
McGowen
Esopus Spitzenberg

I know that the names are not as good as the real thing, but you can get a little flavor of the are from the names of the heirloom apples grown in the orchard down the street.

* Cambridge, Mass. was originally called New Towne. In the wake of Anne Hutchinson's trial for heresy, Harvard was founded to prevent young men from listening to women who have an independent take on religion and life. The town was renamed after Cambridge.

When I hear that some town in southern California has been renamed to Oxford, I will know that you have stricken fear into the hearts of the male establishment. Her husband, William, sounds as supportive as John.

Thanks for the great photos.

jana said...

gray:
Someday when I live in the east during apple season I will try all of these lovely varieties. For now, i will just enjoy imagining them!

Bekah said...

Fall weather is come upon us in Tokyo, though the leaves haven't changed yet (I've found the perfect garden for when they do). Jesse is bemoaning the cold weather as this will be his first winter EVER! I'll send him to this post for a breath of Autumn in Socal.

jana said...

bekah:
I love your updates from Japan! I can't wait to see photos from Fall and from all of your adventures. :)

I'm holding Miriam in my thoughts and hoping that school will get easier for her (and you!)...

daisies said...

such glorious colour : ) we are going to be entering the grey zone soon, where the leaves have all gone and the trees are barren, the grass is brown before the ground is covered in white ...