First Fruits 2010

Welcome Season of the First Fruits!

I look around and see the rewards from the hard work of planting and nurturing. It has been a hard summer for growing. Most of us have been experiencing high temperatures and less than average rainfall. The weather was unkind to some of the small seedlings. It was difficult to watch them wither away knowing you were doing all you could do. Here in Florida, we constantly battle the temperatures along with sandy soil conditions and the ever present hot sun. Even in the shade the sun proved to be too hot for some of my smaller herbs. One of my patchouli plants that I had for two years finally gave in to the heat. While this is typical weather for us in the south, it is harder for other parts of the country. Living in a city with the traffic and buildings blocking any breeze the heat must be stifling.

We are also beginning the harvest season. This could be ideas and projects that we started earlier in the year. There were times I felt stressed that my tasks were falling behind. I doubted I would complete them on time. Then I remember this is only the beginning of the harvest. My ideas and projects still have time to grow and bloom. I noticed the second patchouli plant has tiny leaves at the base of the stem. It is reminding me to be patient that the desire to succeed is within all of us.

Blessings of this harvest season,

Dawn