🌺 SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge 6

She lost herself in the trees, among the ever changing leaves.
She wept beneath the wild sky as stars told stories of ancient times.
The flowers grew toward her light - the river called her name at night.
She could live an ordinary life with the mysteries of the universe hidden in her eyes.
A poem by C. A. Martine

Another month rolls around and we find ourselves in an sweltering South African Karoo summer. The gardens are exploding with most veggies going to seed while our fruit trees have started bearing. Join me for a slow meander in the very early morning. Accompanying me in my stroll is the green fingered @simplymike - for the inspiring #gardenjournal2018 and the sixth challenge.

The pecans are bearing and a vibrant lime green which brightens up the drought stricken countryside

Our apricots are starting to blush and the branches drip with the fruit. The bees are savouring the blossoms

Our different varieties of grapes are a mass of leaves

And lovely katoba grapes are starting to form

Usually a late winter crop, the strawberries have waited for the heat to bear. They are deliciously sweet

In the cool of the mulberry and pomegranate trees our faithful Great Dane, border collie and one of the cats, Pepper, lie waiting for us

And we have our fill of mulberries. Yum!!

The almonds are looking beautiful and a bountiful crop this year

Promising to keep us busy for days in the processing, the carob trees are already dripping with pods

While the garlic is not quite ready to pick we are well into the second week harvesting the onion seeds but the bees and butterflies are still enjoying them

The elder has proved a wonderful attraction for all the nasty bugs - like aphids - that would usually destroy our veggie gardens but instead gravitate to the flowering elder

Also flowering are the coriander which have started making seeds

One of my favourite fruits, the nutritious pomegrante is flowering and the fruit is also popping up all over the tree

Figs a-plenty

And also plenty of tangerines

Of course humans aren't the only ones benefitting by the delicious organic gardens. Mama hens teach the new chicks about leafy greens

And I teach my own baby about the different veggies - to everything he responds "Yum!"

A bit overgrown the seeds are due to be collected and stored. The calendula will also be picked and dried for my bath salts and goats milk soaps. And all the overgrowth split between chickens and goats. I enjoy the early morning stroll before the heat of the day. How do you begin your day? Under the shade of which tree would you rest? What does your garden look like in your corner of the earth?

If you long for a mind at rest and a heart that cannot harden -
Go find a gate that opens wide into a secret garden.
Anonymous