Sprouts and Blooms

photo from a friend's garden

Late spring is a time of new growth. My garden is filling in with plants at different stages. Beans and corn are just sprouting, while flowers like irises are at the height of blooming. The tomatoes are beginning to look serious, and a few have flowers that may develop into fruit before too long. The strawberries are going crazy. Nuggets of green hang from loaded stems, slowly ripening.

As is typical in my area, we fight wind and hail by covering our garden beds with all manner of protection, from window screens to chicken wire to hail mitigation cover, a clever woven plastic material. Water has not been an issue this season. Typically very dry, we have been blessed with nearly daily rain.

Like the garden, my current writing projects are at different stages. One short story is in rough draft form while another I recently submitted to a magazine. A novel is undergoing yet another rewrite. Several ideas are bubbling beneath the surface, eager to sprout into the light of day. I am not being stingy with the fertilizer and water as I hope for an abundant crop of new fiction.

I hope you are enjoying a productive spring!

---