Green space.

Holidays are lovely. 

And I especially love the chance to take a break at Christmas and New Year.

We have just enjoyed a holiday: a change of scenery, an adventure, a break from the everyday-ordinary , time away from work and home.

And, what I missed most from home was our 'green space'. 

Our house is nice, though I wish it was smaller and ours so we could make changes and update it. I do love our 'stuff' inside, but it is our garden that I miss when I'm away! I love this green space and over the past two years we have totally transformed this space. We have pruned and mowed, built up and cut down, dug and weeded, watered and watched. 

As soon as we got home we worked side by side to inspect, celebrate and share in the progress and growth of our garden. Ben mowed and the green space was transformed. I feel at home here, and when we move I will miss this space.

 

We have SO much green: three varieties of lettuce, corn, red/green/yellow capsicum, mint, tomatoes, parsley, chillies, cucumber, beetroot, celery, eggplant, pumpkin, bok choi, spring onions, dill and zucchini.

But I remember that rather than lingering on this space and missing it like crazy, I'd rather capture and celebrate that the amazing thing about a vegetable garden is that we can have it wherever we go! With just some soil, seeds and time, we can rediscover this place of growth and harvest.

Tomatoes, and self-seeded pumpkins.

We have planted what seems like a million tomatoes so that we can make our own tomato sauce and tomato relish soon. Oh my goodness, I really can't wait!

But what I realise when I am in this green space is just how much joy it brings me. I love to get my hands dirty in the soft soil, and play around with the hose when I'm watering the garden. I enjoy peeking in at the worm farm and spending time feeding the chickens. I love to harvest vegetables, but my favourite thing to do is to watch the vegetables grow. We have tiny little green chillies, and cute purple flowers on the eggplants, we have small yellow capsicums and leafy green lettuces. This green space is often on my mind, and in my imagination, and I'm thankful for the abundance of fresh food.

I often notice how many birds come and visit our back yard because of our chickens. They sing and play and eat the left over chicken feed in the lawn. Can you see the little dove on the chicken house? It's so lovely to be able to be close to the birds, bees, worms, snails, butterflies, though perhaps not the earwigs and the spiders!

Ben and I are on a journey, and 2012 is shaping up to be a big year. And as I look ahead I feel like we  we've planted many seeds and set off on the path we're travelling and now we're waiting for the growth and harvest. Seasons change, and there is always something to miss in the past seasons but we must celebrate what is before us. I remember the wonderful harvest we've seen in our green space in the past, but what I see right here and right now is to be celebrated. And what is to come is even greater than where we've been before because we are learning and trying new things and we are growing in skills, ideas, dreams and faith. I can hold, touch, watch, smell, and see the growth we have in our garden right now, and it is delightful. It is fresh and new.

Our abundant harvest really is too much for just the two of us! So, if you live nearby would you like to swap some of your harvest with us? We can offer cucumbers, bok choi and lettuce fresh from our garden. I would love to swap for some of your fresh produce, or perhaps something else you have made?

Please let me know, because this green space is bursting with goodness that must be shared!