In my previous life, I was a high school science teacher and guidance counselor. A number of my former coworkers are retired now and we try to get together for lunch once a month. Usually we visit different restaurants that we have heard about and want to try, but for the last two years we've had a spring garden party in our backyard.
Because the garden is always changing, it's a different experience each time. Last time it was the hollyhocks that dominated the scene; this year it was the roses. My friends are all really good cooks who like to experiment with new recipes, so the menu is always changing too. One of my friends put together a cookbook for us to share recipes, along with some pictures of our garden.
The weather was as close to perfect as it gets: temperatures in the mid-seventies and no wind. We had a good time eating, visiting, and enjoying the garden. Some people picked citrus to take home with them, and cuttings of sweet potato vines to try at home. I didn't get any takers for the dozens of volunteer tomato plants that have come up, though.
We had our lunch under two canvas pop-up canopies. They function nicely to provide shade, but we have to take them down if the wind kicks up, or they will sail away, wreaking general garden havoc in their wake. (I found that out one monsoon season when I was using them to shade July tomato transplants) One of Mike's ideas for a future garden project is to build a pergola on this side of the house to provide a more permanent shade structure for the patio area.
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