A second post for #MondayBlogs, again! If this goes onto next week, I will have officially formed a new habit. 🙂

Earlier today, I shared a post by Colleen M. Story on my Twitter feed. She wrote a blog about gardening and writing, and you can read it here.

I loved the post, and said so, and Colleen asked about my own green thumb. Since we live in the desert, the summers are (obviously) a bit harsh. Lara and I have a greenhouse now, to grow our herbs and veggies and some fruit. This is our second greenhouse, to be honest. The first one was a very inexpensive, lightweight greenhouse, just to see if we could successfully grow anything in a greenhouse in this heat. We succeeded, but so did the 60 mph gusts of wind, so the “starter” greenhouse was destroyed.

We replaced it with a permanent one, instead:

It’s still a work in progress, as we have installed a drip hose so that things will be watered during the night, while I am hopefully sleeping. 🙂 Also, I have pavers and bricks set aside so that I can create a path to the door, and beautify the area around it. Being clumsy, and having children, I did make sure to place one of our aloe vera plants inside, so no bugs would get to it.

Also, since I’m a huge fan of tea, we have sage. Sage tea is amazingly tasty, good for the immune system, and great for digestion. Plus, with a touch of honey, it’s very comforting.

We have some fruit growing in there, as well. Thus far, strawberries, and the promise of cantaloupe!

I have my rosemary, and basil, and thyme. Also, spinach and tomatoes. The roma tomatoes usually bear fruit here in the summer months, while the beefsteak fruit during the winter.

I’m sure my photography skills (which are non-existent) leave a great deal to be desired. But, I thought I’d write a bit about one of those things that make me happy.

Voltaire wrote in Candide, “…il faut cultiver notre jardin.” Although I can’t say that Candide was my favorite French novel, the phrase stayed with me. I know that the meaning wasn’t intended to be fully literal, but there’s something magical and mind-clearing about time spent cultivating the garden.

Blessings…

Basil.