This is why we live here…

Spring.

Right now the farm smells like orange blossoms, or roses, or basil, or even garlic depending on where you stand.  The birds are in constant chorus hidden in various trees.  The sounds of spring training baseball from the stadium just beyond our fields have been roaring and applauding for the past month. Marsha’s Lady Banks’ roses look like a waterfall of flowers from her back windows.  Their perfume follows you around.  I can smell it the minute I pull up to the farm every morning.  In every field there is something new going in the ground and something else making one last appearance for the season.  Today we just spotted the first purple iris open right in time for Easter weekend.  Even with an early Easter, somehow they knew.  I love everything about spring in Arizona.  Sean and I sat on our back patio last night and watched the sky change colors and were grateful for the moment.

This is why we live here.

In that spirit, I ditched my desk this morning and wandered around the farm with my camera instead. Wouldn’t you?

Little yellow flowers coming off of the kale

Baby tomato plants popping up in the big shade house

Rows of basil in the shade houses

Italian flat leaf parsley

The plant I am most excited to see grow every year.  Sun Gold Tomatoes!

Fava beans

The green house and all of the seedlings that are about to go in the ground…

Marsha’s Lady Banks’ Roses

To give you an idea of how big they are – there is a full-size basketball hoop hidden in there.

And finally…

The first one of the season.

Happy Spring!

P.S.  Come early to the market this Saturday!  We will have plenty for your Easter brunch… but this market tends to be a busy one every year!