I learned how to do all of this.

It's been 106 degrees here this week. Scratch that - today, we should hit 109. It happens, every year, and yet each year when the molten air arrives on the wings of late July, it still surprises me just how hot it feels. I've got a close friend in Arizona - I know it's not that hot in comparison. Still, comparing temperatures doesn't really matter at this point. It's still. so. hot.Heat is a welcomed gift. It's a vital part of our ecosystem here where I live. It's what causes a lot of the flowers to go to seed and reproduce, the peppers to ripen, the potted citrus to set fruit, the tomatoes to turn blushed with color. It's why we can grow beautiful cucumbers and basil and eggplants. It's good. A few days ago, when Stuart and I were out harvesting green beans in the slightly-less-offensive morning heat, we were filling large lugs full of the tender pods. I've gotten really swift at harvesting over the past few years as a vegetable farmer, but Stuart still takes his time and is a bit more methodical about it. I had finished my row of green beans before he'd made it through his first plant: I don't blame him, the plants were absolutely loaded. We kept picking, the sun growing warmer on our backs, until he mentioned that he was slightly offended by how many green beans there were still remaining. We picked and picked and picked and still, the bush beans were collapsing under the weight of the pods. I giggled.Twelve years ago, I didn't know how to grow anything. I waddled my way, painfully, through my first garden and had a very meager harvest to show for it. Now, after twelve years of hands-on-education and sweat equity, we are able to grow so much that we've actually become burdened by the harvest (in a good way, of course).I learned how to do all of this. How to cluster plant onions for easier transplanting. How to trellis peas and prune tomatoes. How to space potatoes and keep the aggressive weeds at bay through a no-dig method. It's all been learned with a zealous hunger for more. 

I learned how to do all of this. You can too.