Monday, October 27, 2008

basil, and the frost around the corner

I have been playing a wait and see game with the weather, lately. There are many things in my garden that will get killed by frost. Each day I check the weather to see if it will go into the 30's. We've had 2 nights that said it would go to 37, and on one it went to 35!

So, why wait? Well, part of it is laziness, and part of it is enjoying seeing things continue to grow.

Harvesting the second set of tomatoes won't be easy, they are vines, and they are everywhere, and since they are green, they are hard to find. And, I like ripe tomatoes, as I've been getting a couple of ripe cherry tomatoes every other day.

With the basil, it is pure laziness. But, I finally decided that yesterday would be a perfect day for the harvest. I pulled up 6 plants by the roots, shook off the soil and got ready to go. The sun was shining, and I put my little mp3 player on and went to picking. Since I was making pesto, I didn't want to use leaves with spots, so that meant I had a lot of sorting to do. But, I ended up with a large bowlful of gorgeous shiny leaves, and it smelled wonderful.

It was interesting to sit and do this. I sat on our porch steps, with the sun and air so gorgeous, with leaves falling from trees, and felt my normal, current state of wary content. I can be content in the small moments, but larger things make me wistful and long for greater things(to be pregnant again/still, to be moving on fully).

As any gardener does, I am already thinking of the next season. I was in the kitchen, squeezing water from the blanched basil leaves, and I thought to myself, 'How will you be able to handle it if you aren't pregnant on your due date?' The basil formed a hard ball in my hand, once I took it from the cloth. I squeezed it, thinking, 'I hope it doesn't come to that, but you'll deal, you have to, as you've done with all of this.'

I realized, that I have been feeling like age is like the frost around the corner, as far as fertility is concerned.

Currently, I am 36, and, luckily, in decent fertile shape. But I don't know how long this sunny spell will last, how long I will have good eggs, and all of that. There is no nightly web-site where I can check my fertility forecast, but knowing that it only gets harder(colder) the older I get makes me want to rush to the clinic and get going.

6 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday!

    Age is just a number in my book, but I do think if you are interested in trying another cycle- you should go for it. We're all here to support you!

    Your garden sounds beautiful. I love pesto, and I'm sure everything you make is wonderful. I'm glad you got to enjoy the beautiful weather of the day, which created time to think and ponder.

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  2. Happy Birthday dear Poppy and I send you my Best Wishes for a very Happy Day and all your wishes to come true, mostly being a Mommy.

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  3. I guess my wording wasn't great. It isn't my birthday, that is in January. Thanks, though.

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  4. Pesto sounds so yummy!
    Basil actually has a lot of lore related to fertility and is considered to be a lucky plant for that (although from all I remember, pregnant women should only eat small amounts of basil). Don't get too caught up on the age thing, concentrate on what you have now, having good healthy eggs. Don't waste your energy looking for heavy clouds. Believe in your sunny horizons and that just as the Earth goes to sleep now in the fall, you'll also re-emerge stronger in the Spring ready to try another cycle.

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  5. I too fear not being pregnant by my due dates. I know it is just a milestone but I hope we both will not have to weather that storm.

    Although... we are truly strong enough, I just hope neither of us has to prove it.

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  6. Poppy, you said it perfectly. Our age is the frost around the corner. And unfortunately in my neck of the woods, it doesn't give much warning (I lost all my basil before I made it into pesto :-( ), and it seems like my fertility is decreasing faster than the winter sun.

    I, too, spent a productive weekend out in the garden -- mulching the fall and winter crops, making compost. Feels good to do.

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