Here’s a happy honeybee aiming towards a fully-opened sunflower on the first day of December in my garden. It’s been chilly at night, but the daytime has been beautiful and warm and in the 70s. Yes, this is unusual. Yes, this concerns me. But I must confess it also delights me. I am enjoying the summer blooms in my garden, and the warm afternoon temperatures which are perfect for walking. I think it’s important that we remember to be present, whatever the moment gives us. I can be worried about our place on this planet and happy to bask in the afternoon’s slanted glow. Environmental work can be draining, so let’s take the joy where we can.

The cover crops in my garden also include, at the moment, cosmos. And borage, cilantro, buckwheat. I used our homemade compost to top off these beds, and the seeds that didn’t die in that pile have germinated and are flowering freely. It’s all good. A cover crop can be any crop, and it’s all improving the soil.

A side benefit to these sunflowers growing this time of year is that the goldfinches leave them alone. In summer, my sunflowers are always decimated, the leaves eaten down to the veins. This means the plant can’t photosynthesize and can’t bloom properly. Why don’t the goldfinches do this in winter? It could be that they don’t need greens this time of year, requiring only protein and fat to prepare their bodies for laying eggs. It could also be that most have migrated for the season, and the ones I see around the bird feeder are too few to do much damage.

Hey, maybe I’ll only grow sunflowers in the autumn and winter from now on.

Happy December, everyone.