Last week I was hot and sweaty from gardening all morning, wilting as I hauled compost up into my truck bed, and generally feeling sorry for myself and wondering how I was going to get any motivation to sit at the computer and work for the rest of the afternoon. Sarah and I really needed to get a presentation ready, but the prospect of hours editing a PowerPoint sounded miserable.

Then I remembered: it’s summer! The pool is open! I can go swim and cool off, then focus on work. Or better yet, we can bring our laptops to the pool and edit the presentation there between dips. Maybe it’s not the full summer vacation relaxation time we need, but it sure made the work feel a whole lot easier.
The pool is only open for a few months, and even though this year is the longest possible stretch between an early Memorial Day and late Labor Day, you know those 15 weeks will be over before we know it. I’m going to be working from the pool as often as I possibly can.

That got me thinking about what else I need to be SURE I make happen this summer, and of course I’m thinking about the garden. All winter we pine for the long warm evenings, the bright zinnias, and the juicy cucumbers. I want to savor those feelings and flavors, and certainly don’t want to look up and realize it’s September and I haven’t done all my favorite summer activities. Enter the Summer Garden Bucket List. These are things you can only do right now, in this season, while the zinnias are blazing and the cucumbers are coming in faster than you can eat them.

I also wanted to know what’s on Sarah’s list so I can get some more ideas for how to really be present this season and maybe tag along with her (I sure hope meetings at the pool make the cut)!

Abi’s Summer Garden Bucket List

Make Panzanella. It’s a salad with tomatoes, cukes, and basil and BREAD (look out Dozen Bakery) and whatever else you want to add. Summer in a bowl.
Host a garden hang. Fire pit? Or build-your-own-bouquet party? Not sure yet. Can this introvert host two parties in one season? I think I can!
Enter a horticultural contest at the Tennessee State Fair. I must defend my blue ribbon status in the zinnia competition, but I also want to try some other categories.
Can a SPICY salsa. My past attempts have all been pretty mild and boring.
Make lavender lemonade popsicles. If I can’t get to the pool, an ice-cold popsicle from the freezer is my second best cool-down trick. I had so much fun with the herbal lemonade bar at my spring garden party, I want to try a summer version.
Hammock naps. It’s honestly hard to sleep in such close proximity to my garden where there are so many chores to do, but I believe in myself.
Keep my Mosquito Buckets of Doom refreshed. The name says it all. Instructions on how to make your own are here.

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Sarah’s Summer Garden Bucket List

Y’all, when I was a teacher, summer was such a dream. Days moved slowly; I piddled all day from May 24th until July 15th, when professional development cranked back into gear. I wore a tank top and dirty jean shorts, or I stayed in yoga clothes way longer than I should admit. I built garden beds, brewed kombucha, went on road trips to pick blueberries, and hosted lazy parties with citronella in every corner of the patio.

Now that I have garden business, you can all guess, summer is different. I race up and down 65 a lot. I work until 8 PM because it’s still bright outside and even though my phone battery is dead, my adrenaline is still pumping. Until I sat down to add to Abi’s article just now, I forgot about the wonder of the great summer slow down, and yep: that’s the theme by which I write this bucket list tonight.

Get lost on the way home from a garden consultation on some random Tennessee road. (Don’t worry Dad— I’ll do this with a full tank of gas.)
Go antiquing. Purchase something that belongs in my garden: an urn, a water fixture, an old millstone… I don’t know, so it will surely be a great boondoggle.
Shishito peppers on the grill. For ten years, the hand-me-down grill from my Dad sat unused in the garage, and now I love anything that Brian makes on it. How did I miss out on the wonders of chicken and burgers, grilled veggies on a kabob? How did I fail to see that ONLY this will keep my kitchen clean?
Buy a new strappy sundress. It’s finally time for me to get rid of all of my teacher clothes, but who wants a closet with nothing but overalls, boots and TKG jerseys? I need some fun garden party attire.
Make mint simple syrup and perfect a julep. I’m from Kentucky, you know. This seems essential. I have a mint patch as big as my front porch now, so the time is now.
Spend a day with my dear pup. Let her hunt for chipmunks in a meadow or woods and leap to her heart’s content.
Catch lightening bugs with my nephew. Summer is a whole new level of thrill for little ones, and I want a part of that joy.
Make pickles with my other nephew. His idea :) I just need to make it happen.