May Garden Update
Reflections on gardening, welcoming warm weather growing season, plus my Weekly What
My favorite season has officially arrived: growing season.
In Columbus, Mother’s Day is traditionally considered the start of the warm weather growing season. We technically have three growing seasons with the warm weather growing season running roughly May-August bookended by two shorter cool growing seasons in early spring and fall. However, those cool seasons are so erratic anymore with temps often swinging wildly back and forth between hot and cold they’re too unpredictable for me to do more than tuck some seeds into a bed and appreciate whatever manages to grow.
Roughly six weeks ago I did just that, and today I was rewarded with my first harvest: two radishes.
Gardening is a hopeful practice. It requires an inherent belief in the future and yourself as well. Anyone who has grown anything knows it’s rarely an entirely straightforward process; instead it’s an ongoing practice marked by potential pitfalls and obstacles to overcome, but persistence, patience, and a sprinkle of humility is sometimes met with reward—or can be reward in itself.
I’m not a natural gardener; many a plant has suffered under my thumb in order to gain the knowledge I exercise today. Through trial-and-error, learning from my mistakes, stubborness stick-to-itiveness, continuous research, and an appreciation for dirt under my nails, I’ve reached a place where gardening is a fulfilling and rewarding pursuit—one that compliments my desire to slow down, engage with nature, and embrace an optimistic perspective.
All this to say: grow something! I’m a fan.
Last year I shared a monthly garden check in and I intend to do so again this year.
Sunday was Mother’s Day so this week I planted tomato and pepper plants, parsley, rosemary, and basil to accompany the mint, thyme, lavender, and chives already growing in my herb bed, scattered zinnia and sunflower seeds, and tucked in okra, cucumber and the first round of green bean seeds.
Now we water and wait.
Tell me:
Do you do any outdoor gardening/growing?
Reading
Celestial Lights by Cecile Pin. Quiet, literary sci-fi about an astronaut named Ollie on a 10 year mission to Europa. The story toggles between the mission and its day-to-day happenings as told through the captain’s log and flashbacks to Ollie’s childhood, coming-of-age, falling in love, and deciding to go on this mission. It’s very introspective and concerned with ambition, sacrifice, and how personal choices impact those close to us. For fans of Samantha Harvey’s Orbital.
The Mad Wife by Meagan Church. Set in the 1950s, Lulu is struggling to meet the perfectionist expectations of the suburban housewife she is after her second baby. When a new neighbor moves in across the street, Lulu becomes fixated upon her in a way that has Lulu suspicious and questioning. I’ve seen this book around quite a bit, frequently attached to a positive review. It seems to have gained some momentum based largely on word-of-mouth, or at least that’s my impression. Given that context, I was surprised to find it rather uneven. It’s difficult to talk about without revealing key plot details so I’ll just say, I liked the setting, appreciated the themes, and didn’t find it an unworthwhile read, but I think the author tried to do too much. The author’s note at the end gave me the impression Church had some personally meaningful ideas she really wanted to incorporate into the story. I think this could have been a stronger story had it been more focused.
Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell. I spent Mother’s Day reading on the deck and it was glorious and everything I wanted! Even the weather cooperated with sun instead of clouds and rain as forecasted. All things considered, my reading selection required a sure thing—Rainbow Rowell’s newest release did not disappoint!
While her soon-to-be-ex-husband is off in Hollywood working on the film adaptation for his semiautobiographical megahit webcomic, Cherry finds herself alone in the home they once shared, caring for the dog they got in lieu of the children she wanted, saddled with a level of notoriety she’s uncomfortable with as the star of her husband’s series. With her marriage on pause, Cherry bumps into her college crush, a sort of almost, but didn’t happen, the-one-who-got-away situation, except this time, the time is right and the two begin a romantic relationship. The story toggles between Cherry’s present interspersed with flashbacks to the rise and fall of her marriage--which might not be as over as she thought. There’s so much going on here and I appreciated all of it—second chance romance, Jesse Plemons (this may be niche, but it’s my niche), complicated feelings around fatness in the GLP-1 era, Midwestern culture, complicated but loving big family dynamics, bonus points absolutely awarded for Cherry’s cute style and dog. I had such an enjoyable time getting lost in this story for a day.
Rowell’s adult fiction always strikes me as Ephron-esque in that her emotionally resonate books feature messy, recognizable characters who are at times frustrating, but you can’t help root for, whose stories feature romance, but whose journeys are bigger than just a simple happy ever after.More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen. A quiet, character-driven story about a forty-something woman struggling with infertility who questions her own origins after taking an ancestry test on a whim. This story features family, friendship (shout out to small, long-running, close-knit book clubs!), loss, dreamy New England country homes, and supportive husbands. A warm, satisfying story.
Listening
This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum. A fine thriller whose clever premise centering a survival-themed podcast makes for an elevated listening experience narrated by Julia Whelan and Sean Patrick Hopkins. I’m a sucker for a podcast-themed story.
One Bad Mother by Ej Dickson. A thoughtful and sometimes funny exploration of of our cultural understanding and performance of the good vs bad mother binary. Dickson looks at ever-evolving standards and how motherhood is currently portrayed and perceived in pop culture through different archetypes and icons such as stage moms, tradwife influencers, Tiger Moms, MILFs, and more.
Love Trapped. This 12-episode podcast tells the story of The Bachelor’s Clayton Echard’s years long paternity nightmare involving a one-night hookup. I knew nothing about this story before listening and no one is more surprised than me by how invested I became in this series—truly a wild ride. The final episode aired last week.
Watching
Rooster (HBO Max). I’ll watch Steve Carrell in anything and especially appreciate here he’s playing a successful pulp fiction writer (think Lee Child’s Jack Reacher meets Carl Hiaasen’s absurdity) railroaded into being a writer-in-residence at a small liberal arts college. It’s very much on par with the upmarket sitcom vibe of Shrinking and Ted Lasso (though I think the particular magic of Ted Lasso as a character is singular to a certain extent), all three share a show creator and have overlap in production.
Send Help (Hulu). A surprisingly fun watch—sort of a campy survival horror about a jilted office underling stuck on a deserted island with her boss following a plane crash. It’s like Cast Away only Misery’s Annie Wilkes is there instead of Tom Hanks. I didn’t realize until after watching, Send Help is directed by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and that totally tracks.
Eating & Drinking
Crockpot Chicken Bowls with Yellow Rice and Cilantro Pesto. This is a slightly elevated chicken and rice situation that comes together in a snap. It took 2 mins to get the chicken going earlier in the day. I cooked the rice in my Instant Pot (forever and always) and while that was under way I mixed up the pesto (basically threw a handful of items in a blender—the pesto totally makes the meal). Functionally, this is a 30 minute meal. I ate my bowl topped with baby spinach, some grape tomatoes, and pickled onions.
Another batch of these make-ahead breakfast sandwiches, upon request.
And another round of our favorite granola.
Links + Loves
Since we’re talking gardening, here are two things that make my growing life easier:
I use this handy-dandy Precip app to track local rainfall totals at a glace. I love that it keeps a history so I can see when and how much rain we’ve received over the last month.
We have a lot of squirrels, birds, and other wildlife critters around our yard. The squirrels especially are assholes and love to come right behind me and dig up any seeds I plant. Last year, I finally got smart and started covering my beds with this netting until sprouts are big enough to stand a chance. It allows water, air, and light through, but keeps the critters out.
The Guardian is doing a countdown of the greatest literature ever published in English, as voted for by authors, critics and academics worldwide.
A traveling used bookstore crisscrossing the nation? Retirement goals unlocked! (NYT)
Historian and journalist Jill Lepore talks about the challenges of writing the Trump years into history. (The New Yorker)
Top French court rejects Amazon challenge over French book delivery fees. (Reuters) The practice is in place to help local independent bookstores stay competitive. Imagine that.
We have a trailer for the upcoming Netflix series adaptation of East of Eden releasing this fall. (YouTube)
And speaking of Netflix and book-to-screen adaptations, The Remembered Soldier movie is in the works. (Deadline) Having recently read The Remembered Soldier, I can absolutely see the potential for a great film adaptation!
The Best Comic Books of the Century So Far, according to Book Riot.
Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2026 Minimalist Summer Reading Guide is here.
In Utah, nearly all statewide book bans originate from just 2 school districts. (The Salt Lake Tribune) “Under Utah law, once three school districts (or two districts and five charters) remove the same book for containing “objective sensitive material,” all public schools in the state must also pull — and destroy — the title.” Again and again we see book challenges originating with a small minority of people (typically affiliated with the same conservative political advocacy groups) targeting the same books, which often feature LGBTQ+ themes/characters and/or characters of color. This Utah law further empowers tyranny of the minority; it’s anything but free and democratic.
And speaking of the book ban beat, Book Riot’s Literary Activism newsletter does an excellent job keeping up with all the relevant news. This week they’re diving into book ban data: Five Years of Banned Books Data and What Do We Know?
What are you reading, listening to, eating, watching, liking, and/or linking this week? Let’s chat!
That Bookish Life is a weekly newsletter publishing on Saturdays. If you enjoy my rambles please consider subscribing, sharing, liking, or recommending to a friend.
I sometimes share affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting my work in this way.
If you’d like to keep up with me between newsletters I’m on IG @that_bookish_life. You can also find me on Goodreads and StoryGraph.
Until next time!
I'm sipping my tea, looking at your gorgeous home-grown veggies with envy, while I see the snow falling outside from my peripheral vision. Can't even see the mountains ... sigh. 🌸
Your garden is lovely!