A June Garden

Abundance is one word that comes to mind when I think of our garden in June. Flowers are blooming, plants are producing their fruit, and our meals become brighter & more delicious as the weeks pass. We’ve been harvesting ripe strawberries and little hands are forever stained with the sweet juice. Our toddler spends her morning’s there gathering a morning snack straight from the vine. Our herb garden is fragrant with the smell of lemon balm, rosemary, spearmint, and basil while little buds of lavender start reaching up towards the sun. It’s a magical time where we start to see the all of our hard work over the past months paying off in big ways. A lesson in the long game.

Over the years our garden has changed and evolved with my knowledge and patience. What started as a little salsa garden that caused me frustration has become so much more. It’s a place where I come to breathe, to harvest leaves for tea, to put my hands in the earth, and ground my soul back down to it. It’s a place where we come to get closer to nature, where we can observe & be amazed by it all unfolding, where we can feel the lessons it teaches us. It’s food for our family, it’s self-reliance, it’s a bonding tradition.

Together we wait for the first signs that they are ready and then we head our with baskets & scissors in hand to gather all that our garden has gifted us. Armfuls of strawberries, root vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and chives are brought to me lovingly by dirty little people with big grins on their face. Every year, it is magical. One day they will be adults and I know it’s these small moments in our garden that I will look back on so fondly and the lessons they learn here will be the ones that shape who they become.

I think back on June’s past and we have come far. When we first dipped our toe into gardening I was a bit of a black thumb but through a few years of trial & error mixed with the guidance of the more veteran gardeners I know, things have changed for the better! Now our garden thrives year after year. It has grown and so have I. Are you struggling to start your own garden? Know that with a little dedication & persistence you can grow things too! My best advice for beginners: just jump in. There are wonderful youtube channels, blogs, and other resources to help you along the way. I also encourage you to connect with experienced gardeners in your community, they are such a wealth of information & a contact you can always turn to for advice!

With a slight sprinkle coming down and more rain on it’s way we finish harvesting what we can and bring our baskets into the kitchen where we can clean & prepare everything for the coming week. A welcome rhythm that keeps us eating seasonally with the freshest ingredients around. Herbs turned into pesto or dried for tea, berries cleaned and then frozen for smoothies, beets roasted for tomorrow’s lunch and pickled to enjoy all year long. The taste of a June garden, so sweet & nourishing.

Do you love growing a June garden? What does your June harvest look like?

Haven’t gotten into the world of gardening yet? What’s on your must-grow wish list?

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