Happy Summer Solstice, 2009

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved

In celebration of the advent of summer, my partner Davin replaced the chalkboard portion of this frame with a new one (the old had become warped from a year spent outdoors) and made the first drawing of the season. Our goal this year is to document all the drawings on the board with a photo. We didn’t do that last year and subsequently lost any record of some brilliant drawings.

Photo by Gayla Trail  All Rights Reserved
This first drawing was inspired by the collection of pots set on the table underneath the chalkboard (the shadiest part of the roof). Here’s what it looks like hung above them. Most of the plants sitting on that table are greens, lettuce, and violas that have been shifted to less intense heat and sun regions of the roof as a way to extend their life a little bit longer. We still have a ton of lettuce going and can’t possibly eat it all at once! Most of the remaining plants are occupying space underneath taller plants that provide a little bit of respite from the heat and are in larger pots that stay moist longer.

I wrote more about making a chalkboard for the garden when we came up with it on a whim last year. This year we picked up two chalk pastel pencils at our local art supply store Woolfit’s that allow you to draw much thinner lines than a typical piece of chalk. They’re so great and easy to use that we plan to get more in a wide variety of colours.

More chalkboard drawings (2008): Swiss chard, We Want Sun, Rain, No Squirrels, Flowers, in progress, torture and waterboarding.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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14 thoughts on “Happy Summer Solstice, 2009

  1. I’ve been saying to myself “I’ve got to make a chalkboard like that” since I saw your original post. This year, I’m actually going to do it damnit. Of course, with the company I keep there’s bound to be less pretty plant drawings, and more lewd sketches. But I’ll take what I can get.

  2. I love this chalkboard idea and this specific drawing, too. It would certainly expand the number of plants I could enjoy on my small balcony.

  3. What a gorgeous drawing. And a great idea. I’ve been wanting to do something like that for my deck so I can let my friends know when I’ve walked down to the beach; thanks for sharing the idea.

  4. i love that! fantastic. that’s inspiring. i think soon i’ll put up a new chalk drawing as well (we have one going in our kitchen). take care *

  5. What a stunning idea! Pretty gorgeous drawing too.So strange to imagine you in the height of your growing season, in the warm, whilst we are in Australia, shivering our bums off a few days after the winter solstice. At least the days get longer from here on in. Beautiful site btw.

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