I fell in love again this morning. . .with my vegetable garden. The past few weeks my passion has waned--it’s been too hot to pull weeds or embrace the tangle of tomato plants.  But this morning. . .the combination of a light breeze, cooler temperature, and a bit of rain made the conditions just right for an early morning affair.

What a delicious hour I spent, harvesting tomatoes galore, a pound of slender green beans, red and yellow bell peppers, and enough basil for several batches of pesto.  Breakfast was a buffet of cherry tomatoes.  I helped myself to raspberries from my neighbor’s garden (they’re on vacation and I have their blessing).  Neighbors on the other side want me to harvest figs before the birds eat them all.  And by tomorrow morning there will be a few more yellow squash ready for picking.

But the produce wasn’t the only attraction.  I gazed a long time at a Monarch butterfly resting on a raspberry cane.  A hummingbird made a sudden, feverish stop.  The honeybees were so intent on their business that they didn’t bother me while I yanked morning glory vines away from their hive entrance, or pulled up carrots whose tops were blocking their flight path.  And goldfinches chirpily announced that they had found the nodding sunflower heads.

Yes, I’m in love.  This is not mere infatuation.  The time is right to plant fall vegetables so this romance is not just a summer fling.  One question lingers as I head to the shower:

What’s the protocol when a neighbor’s watermelon vine trails over into your garden?  Do you hand the melons back over the fence?  Politely ask permission to harvest?  Or quietly declare “finders keepers, losers weepers?!”

Randee Humphrey is education manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.

Gosh, Randee. Just invite your watermelon fancier over to your yard. With all of the beauty you describe, they maight also fall in love, and the disposition of the melons will become a pushover! (No pun intended.)

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