Diaper Garden Gallery: Wheel of the Year

In a cool Spring, who wouldn't welcome the unlikely growth of a Kiwi vine across a waking garden? It's a Diaper Garden. If we imagine it, it may grow. More kiwi details.

When the sun shines brightly on a cold winter day, the snow over the garden sparkles like a bed of diamonds. The garden isn't green, but the garden is alive. More Winter Frost details, including cool colors close up.

In High Summer, we're harvesting the fruits of the vine and the tree. The garden demands more hard work. If you are lucky, your chili peppers have been stressed enough by your weather to yield mad heat. Oh, yum. Watch out for those seeds. More Chili & Lime details, including a very big page showing auction combinations.

The garden is alive with bright, sunny flowers and abundant greens. Have you noticed the festival season has started among agricultural towns? Where we are, in New York, ripened strawberries mark midsummer for the Iroquois. What is ripe where you are? More Strawberries detail, including Wool Berry Book.

The animals have awakened. The air feels different, and the sun smiles down on the soil. The first signs of abundant life in the garden are buds and flowers from bulbs, from seedlings, and all over the trees. Wear a daisy chain or toss a few flowers into your picnic salad. More May Flowers detail.

The abundant life of the garden depends on all of the elements coming together: clear air and fiery sun warm up the cold earth and let the water flow. Seedlings are sprouting, and, if you are in the south, you can work with the soil. Soon, the garden will be green again. More Blue Skies detail.

The soil is waking, night and day are equal, and the garden is preparing for its rebirth. Eggs symbolize birth and rebirth in many cultures. We hide eggs in the garden while we hold the first big picnic of the year. Spring has come, just as you suspected it would. More speckled egg detail.

Ewes are lambing. That's a sure sign of the earliest Spring. Are you planning your garden? Planting seeds that need a warm start? While the garden is waking up, we're still eating from last year's bounty, digging through the root cellar to find turnips, still solid and beautiful. More turnip detail and a portrait of a turnip baby.

Around the world, in the dark half of the year, people celebrate midwinter festivals of lights. They are Diwali, Hannukah, Lucina, Saturnalia, Yule, Christmas, Candlemas. Lamps, candles, bonfires, and stars light the dark nights when the garden lies dormant. More ice star detail, plus an ice star close up and a Retro Ice Star Wool coat.

As the days get shorter, there isn't much in the garden to remind us of the green spring. But thorny holly sticks it out. Many of us bring holly, holly berries, and their colors indoors with us to celebrate our Holidays. More holly detail.

It's time for grateful harvest celebrations. If you are lucky, it is still warm and you are clearing out the last of the garden. Or perhaps you have a little treat in the root cellar. Eggplant! Lovely, versatile eggplant for a hearty meal. More eggplant detail.

October
Squash

Winter is definitely on the air. The dark half of the year is beginning. Winter vegetables are ripe, which is good because the frosts and snow are upon the north. Cheeks are rosy. Time for squash soup. More squash detail.

September
Watermelon

The wheel is turning. If you're lucky it is getting a little cooler and you are harvesting many of the summer vegetables. The weather is just right for wearing a sweater to a picnic or a party just so you can eat a bunch of watermelon. More watermelon detail and a retrospective.