Belated yet heartfelt

We ended up spending more time at the airport than planned, and had unexpected family visiting, so this post did not appear yesterday as I'd originally hoped.

Nonetheless, I am appreciative of those of you who drop in, regulars or not, and wanted to extend this, a wish from austinagrodolce to all of you, for a meaningful holiday weekend.

Whatever this holiday has come to mean to and for you, I do hope you were able to take good advantage of an extra day away from paid work, perhaps time to get outside and enjoy the days of summer.

Because it is July, and July waits for no-one to break out The Summer.

Happy red,

white,

and blue!

The Waiting Game

I've written recently about how a certain amount of any gardener's time is spent waiting around.  Anticipating results for work already done.

You plan, you plant, you water, you weed, you watch, and eventually, if all the elements cooperate, you get your big payoff.

In this case, what I'd been gleefully anticipating was the emergence of blooms on several volunteer sunflower plants.  I don't think I purposefully seeded in these particular plants but maybe I did - sort of.  I'd been trying to get sunflowers growing in the area around the bird feeder for multiple seasons but it wasn't until after I'd dug everything up to move the pole a few feet out of the way of a projected new path that anything came up.

Whoever gets credit for putting the seeds properly into play, now after waiting for years, I've finally gotten the blooms I so desperately desired.

To my surprise, while nearly all my attention and flowerly longings were directed towards those sunflower buds, a Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) plant I bought during Art Fest in Wimberly two years ago, recently decided it too would become an active contestant in the Waiting Game.

Not long after I first noticed these buds, I was thrilled to see this bloom appear.

These are our first flowers for this specimen, and I'm keeping an eye out to see how long the blooms will each last, what pollinators they'll attract, and if this plant will repeat bloom as long as it is happy with its surroundings.

I kept saying to anyone who would listen (and a couple of family members who would not so much listen) that these blooms sure reminded me of plumeria.  And no wonder, apparently Desert Rose is related to both plumeria and numeria (or oleander, as numeria is more commonly called).

So far the pink and yellow tubular bloom has been stealing the show for three days running, with more blooms hanging around just off stage, waiting their turn to shine.  We might not have any actual fireworks this 4th of July holiday, but it matters not.  These Desert Rose blooms in combination with the sunflowers will sure enough fill the bill.

However you choose to celebrate this Fourth of July, here's warmest wishes sent out from everybody here at Austin Agrodolce to you.  May your dogs be hot and your mustard cold.

Season's Eatings

There is nothing quite as satisfying as baking up treats to share with people you love. The breads featured in the photo are part of an array of yummies a small group I belong to at my church offered up to go with our weekly Fair Trade coffee recently. It was fun to make them and more fun to watch them being devoured with appreciation by people I worship with week in and week out.

But. With all that baking I was not doing anything real to feed hungry people who can't feed themselves, and this time of year especially I feel we are ALL called to do just that. As we waddle away from the officially designated Feast Day of Thanks, I am reminded there are still folks, right here where I live, who do not have enough nutritious food to eat on a daily basis. I know I want to do something, but what?

As I was out collecting leaves to mulch one of my garden beds last Monday, I got my answer. My across the street neighbor asked if my husband and I would "mind" having her Brownie Scout Troop stop by Sunday afternoon as part of their "Caroling for Cans" event. I told her we'd be delighted.

Yesterday Troop 844 went door to door in our neighborhood to share a couple of songs in return for collecting non-perishable goods for the Capital Area Food Bank. In addition to being some of the cutest carolers EVER, they are learning, as six year olds, that they are able to do something important to help other people less fortunate than themselves.

Did we "mind"? So far that miniature serenade has been one of the highlights of our holidays.I know I can't eradicate world hunger but I can do something. I can donate to my area food bank. And now I have. Won't you join me?