Tuesday 18 June 2013

Tales from the garden

I was so hoping to write a garden post last week.  My husband came home from the community garden one evening and reported that the garden was doing well.  So the next day, with camera in tow, I was excited to capture all the wonderful growth and greenery happening there.

I humbly found I had a different perspective of our garden.  I searched for the corn he said had poked through the earth, only to find three plants.  I squinted to see if there were any carrots growing or if it was just weeds.  The peas and the weeds were so indistinguishable that Nicholas took to hacking at anything and everything green before I could even ask him to slow down, take his time, and be choosy before bringing down the hoe on the green rows.  Then the allure of painting and reading lost its sparkle for Astrin.  And it started to gently and sporadically mist once we had finished our weeding and what we thought was the rest of our planting.  It felt like too depressing a visit to write about.

Time has healed my bruised ego now.  We returned briefly today, so that I could look with objective eyes at the work and replanting that will be done early tomorrow morning, before the kids rise and their father leaves for work.  I can see some of the successes we're having, here at home and at the community garden.  The spindly little tomatoes we started from seed look stronger, greener, and lusher by the day.  The beans Nicholas planted came up beautifully.  The popcorn at home is looking splendid, and I'm happy that I've had a chance to do a little bit of companion planting, using the corn for the pole beans to climb.  The potato leaves have pushed their way through the earth, the pumpkin is hanging on, and the zucchini is well on its way.  And while it's still to early to tell for sure, there may just be a few carrots that appreciated me gently "stirring the earth". 

While I do have a list of "to do's" for next year...get out there earlier, water more often, sow the carrots a bit shallower...I'm once again reminding myself to be patient.  Both with the plants and with me.  The cool, wet spell we've just been through made the growth above ground come to a halt.  But all that moisture will benefit those plants later on.  The sun will be shining this week and the heat will help those plants thrive.  Not all growth goes on where it can be seen...there's equally important stuff going on below the surface.  My vibe can be seen and felt by my children.  They can learn that gardening is frustrating business or they can learn to take the ups and the downs with grace. 


It may be small, but it is a life.  It is growing.  It is beautiful.  I will keep it in that perspective.

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