At last the summer rains have come to wash clear the everlasting skies… I was working in the garden the first afternoon they began, sweating rivers in the baking hot afternoon. Hand clearing this wild land and making a garden is a tedious and thorny task, more daunting than difficult however.  It feels pleasant in is own way, to be sitting in the full and beaming sunshine and pulling the fragrant weeds.

The dark clouds seemed to sweep in from the east, like the dark wings of birds, and in the west the clouds glowed silver and white.  From all around came the bombillating din of thunder that rolled from here to there and back again, like goblins fighting in the clouds, and the first crackle.

I worked until the rain poured down, and even after, in the sliding silver rain I worked, planting sweet potato slips where it was cleared and mulched. I felt like the rain washed away the memory of the heat, and the tightness in my heart that comes with the struggles of constant change and survival and intense poverty. Like a baptism, it washed away the ugly experiences of the unsavory people i still must grapple with in my life, and the fears for tomorrow.

I feel so grateful to be where I am and working with the land here right this moment, and for being guided along the big shifts and through the expected and unexpected. This garden, though so new, has been so generous and abundant. As soon as the weather warmed, little sprouts of things began to come up.

I was too busy working at the other garden to mind it. I thought I had to let this garden go, but the garden did not forget me!

When I came back to it to clear and plant and seriously garden, wondering how i could afford a new order for seeds, it had grown up in my absence and had tomatoes and peppers and basil and blue butterfly pea, and bitter melon, garlic,  and many ruby red sprouts of Malabar spinach waiting for me!

The Malabar spinach has been particularly abundant this season. Crisp, flavorful, and refreshing, we have enjoyed it in all kinds of ways.

Here is a recipe, honoring the bounty of my faithful garden.

Summer Omlette With Malabar Spinach And Garlic Flowers

3 fresh eggs

A stacked handful of Malabar spinach leaves, finely sliced

10-12 flowers from a  flowering garlic top

A splash of sake (about 2 teaspoons)

A pinch of salt

A dash of white pepper

Butter or sesame oil for cooking

1. Break eggs into a bowl and season with salt, white pepper, and sake. Beat them up well.
2. Gently heat a pan up until hot, melt the butter, and pour egg mixture in and rotate the pan so it covers the whole bottom.
3. Gently cook until the bottom of the omlette is firm. Sprinkle the top with the finely sliced Malabar spinach and evenly distribute the garlic flowers.

4. Scape the edges of the omlette with a spatula and then carefully reach under and flip one edge over to fold the omlette in half. (There tends to be one side that gets less cooked on my little stove. I chose the more cooked side to flip on top so the less cooked side gets a little more time).

5. Cook for just another minute or so on the one side. Remove from pan, and serve in slices. Pictured here with blue sticky rice (recipe coming!).