Dear Friends and Family,

We had the most extraordinary sunflowers to take to market on Saturday. They had dark brown centers 3 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter surrounded by a double row of golden yellow petals. (The plants must be 8 to 10 feet tall. With sticky stems easily an inch in diameter, I had to cut them with great care). People at the market just couldn't keep away from them. "They make me happy just to look at them" became the morning's refrain. Some just wanted to look, not to buy. Others took just one. Late in the morning a man and his daughter arrived with a container. He said his wife had been told that if she brought a container we could make an arrangement in it. I was taken aback, having been away from market for two weeks. Our intern Kimberly apparantly forgot to mention that order to Robin, so there I was. Fortunately I still had enough to make an arrangement with 7 gorgeous sunflowers, fragrant lemon basil, and reddish Thai basil for contrast. I was grateful for some help from my friend Georgine, member of the Glasgow Garden Club, and from Vicar Suzanne. Our customers seemed quite pleased with the result.

A woman who had been at the market called this afternoon to see if we could sell her 8- 10 of the sunflowers for an event on Wednesday evening. I had to tell her that the sunflowers that blooming now are not as large as the ones I had yesterday. She plans to come on Wednesday morning to look at what we have. She may have to alter her original intention: simply to place one magnificnent stem on each table. I will be interested to see if she actually does drive the 26 miles from Glasgow to buy some of our "impressive" flowers.

On my way to Bowling Green a couple of weeks ago I delivered a special order of a bucket of zinnias and a bucket of basils and other filler to Doris, a parishoner who was doing the decor for the Glasgow Garden Club luncheon. I felt very proud that our flowers were to be displayed before such an appreciative audience. Doris said she got lots of compliments.

I try to think of all that when I am harvesting flowers on hot, humid Friday mornings. The task can seem quite daunting, especially when I start to feel the pressure of the heavy air. I have to keep myself from checking how much farther I need to go to finish the row. I don't even notice individual flowers. Then there'll be one that just can't be ignored -- maybe a big orange zinna with purple edging around the petals and in the center. That stops me. I enter momentarily into the mystery that is color, light, vibrating molecules, energy. I give thanks for Paul's skill as a grower and for his desire to have such beauty as part of our living.

Our share baskets have been heavy with big juicy tomatoes, bright summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, watermelon, and this week, edamame on the stallk. We usually bring only the beans. Our customers thought it was cool. Several with small children thought it would be great fun for the youngsters to "harvest" their own snacks. We were short-handed last week- down to one intern. Fortunately we had help from our first Fall school group- middle school students who have actually been here before. They cheerfully harvested tomatoes- so many we ran out of baskets. That was a big help toward market day. Robin worked with them in pairs to can the surplus tomatoes. They were fascinated by the process and very proud by the end of their 2-night stay to see 40 quarts lined up on the table. Their learnings also included moving the animals, sheep, cow, and pigs; as well as removing the cages and cleaning up a spent tomato patch. Roo (Madeline) and I contributed two pans of our "traditional" oatmeal-chocolate chip bars. School groups seem to love them.

I spent a long weekend in Roslindale with Phoebe and Rob. He has an impressive vegetable garden in part of their front yard. He's been sharing the fruits of his labor with passing neighbors. We enjoyed delicious tomatoes and cucumbers as well as the first zucchini of the season. Phoebe and I worked in 'her' part of the yard- the flower garden. Early mornings we had leisurely conversation and coffee on their newly refurbished deck (look for Rob on This Old House). Alice drove me to Woods Hole to spend a few days with Mary Anne and her new dog, Bailey. What a treat to walk around that delightful little seaside town in bright sunshine and cool breezes. Mary Anne told me I brought the most consecutive sunny days they've seen all summer. After all that good time I was glad to get home to our life here. Hope you've enjoyed some refreshing time. Love, Louise