Friday in Empire

I planted corn and peas this morning. Both should have been planted a few weeks ago, but there were distractions.

This morning I got out early before the sun heated up the day and got at it. I cranked up the ancient Troybilt tiller. I'm constantly amazed by the design and functionality of this simple garden tool. 

I check the oil every now and then, I clean the fuel filter, and put in a little gas. When I need to break up a garden spot, I pull the crank and the old tiller springs to life. It coughs and sputters a little, but it never fails to crank. 

When I put her in gear, she chugs and tills down a row. What's left behind is soil as fine as face powder. I could almost hear the corn and peas rejoice when I dropped the seeds in the rows this morning.

The sun came up and warmed the earth for a few hours before the clouds moved in from the west. Soon a gentle rain began to fall.  I could hear thunder from a distance, but the storms shunted off to the north.

This evening I walked down to the garden and sat down on the grass for a while. It felt good to be connected to the earth and I could smell the freshly tilled soil.  It felt good in ways that I can't explain.

Everything we've planted so far looks great. I'm guessing we'll have squash in three weeks, and maybe tomatoes in a month or less.

Jilda ran by the produce stand and picked up fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes, and new potato's today. She then whipped up a batch of her world famous cornbread and that's what we had for lunch. 

We had classical music on our stereo and as we ate, two deer strolled up under our apple tree and munched on the corn we'd left there. 

I thought to myself, "is it possible to have a better meal anywhere on the planet?" I guess it's possible, but I'd really like to experience it first hand.

I hope you all have a remarkable weekend.