Hello !

Are you a gardener?

I am not. But Mr. Bloom is. And since his retirement in 2022, my man has upped his gardening game in a big way.

It used to be that keeping the flowering bushes in our small yard trimmed, and tending the tomatoes, lettuce and herbs in pots on our balcony was the extent of his interest in gardening. But last summer he built some garden boxes and planted cucumbers, green beans, peppers, strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins, a small row of corn and potatoes (in old burlap coffee bean bags).

He planted much the same this year (minus the corn which, sadly, was a colossal fail) so we've just started to enjoy the fruits of his labour—tiny tomatoes and green beans. He does all the hard work—which he enjoys, so to him it's easy—and my job is to prep the veg to freeze or for dinner.

Stop me if I've told this story my mom loves to share about her years as our family gardener...

The house I grew up in was in rural Quebec and had a large back yard. It was too big for Mom to garden the whole thing, so a neighbour tended half and she took care of the other. She grew all the normal veg you'd expect in the seventies and eighties and would freeze or can huge quantities of tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, yellow and green beans, kohlrabi, rhubarb, and more.

I don't think I was ever asked to help. My brother's, sister's, and my jobs were simply to eat the dinners Mom made with the food she grew for us.

Sadly, the way she tells it, we failed dramatically at that one simple task.

She says that after many years she noticed a pattern and finally took action.

She said,

"I bought seeds, prepped the soil, planted the seeds, watered and weeded the garden, picked the vegetables, prepped the veg to freeze, cooked dinner with them, scraped the uneaten veg off the plates, threw them in the garbage, carried the garbage to the curb ... and one day I just decided to save myself all that work and all those steps.

So, I bought the seeds and handed the packages right to the garbage man."

Now every time I eat fresh vegetables from our garden, I feel like I should call Mom and apologize for being such an ungrateful kid.

If you garden, what do you grow best?

Mr. Bloom still excels with the flowers, but his raspberries this year have been absolutely amazing!

New releases from my friends

Kilt to Order by Susannah Nix

A sizzling small town brother's best friend romcom that features a found family of muscly men in kilts, a spunky booknerd virgin, a protective playboy roommate who agrees to be her love coach, and a guaranteed HEA for these two adorable friends to lovers.

The Academy of Love by Ida Duque

A meddling Latina mom, brothers who she should have smothered years ago, chaos with her job as an academic advisor at the university ... This office romcom is "sweet with heat" — the sex is implied, the swearing is real, and the shenanigans are laugh-out-loud funny.

Discovering her Curves by Joann Baker & Patricia Mason

Ready for a grumpy man who find solace in the arms of a curvy woman? This read is perfect for some beach time, summer time, any time reading with the sweetness that makes you sigh, and the steamy that makes you sweat!

That's all for now. I've got a big bowl of green beans to trim. Mr. Bloom planted a variety that has a very thick vein that's impossible to chew and swallow so I need to pull those out before freezing. It's quite a meditative process, actually.

love&greenstuff,

Danika

xo

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