Friday, January 28, 2011

My happy place

Sometimes I just have to sit back and realize that it's all going to be just fine.  I have to go to that happy place.  The happy place changes from day to day and season to season.  Right now, it's the excitement of the coming gardening year. 

For all of us gardeners, the next garden is perfect.  The weather will be ideal, weeds will be minimal and timing will leave nothing to be desired.  The seeds will have excellent germination and I will of course document every little thing that happens, in order to keep a good record of the year.  In reality, of course, there will be weeds, crops will do poorly, there will be too little or too much rain, there will be weeds.  In short nothing will be perfect.  Except, it will be in many ways.  There will always be that one crop that did amazing.  There will be thing that keeps us all going. 

Seeds hold so much promise.  They hold the promise of joy and wonder.  These tiny little powerhouses will burst forth and amaze us yet again.

We will again be reminded of why we do something so crazy as growing our own food.  The more I see on the news about our food, the more I am glad that I am able to grow even a small portion of what we eat.  I can be a part of the history of our world, by growing and eating foods that have been nurtured for thousands of years. 

I know many who read my blog are gardeners.  Some are very experienced and I learn from them and some are new to this.  Every year it seems that there are more and more gardeners.  Some are here to be 'green', some because they want to save money, some are just doing it for the love of food.  Whatever your reason, the joy of seeds is a universal one of hope.  They don't have to be neatly cataloged, they don't need to be from the fancy garden catalogs, they just need to be.  Enjoy your seeds.  Dream of the perfect garden.

8 comments:

Robin said...

I believe that the love of gardening is in the blood. You either love it or you don't. Many people appreciate it and have flowers and maybe a vegetable or two...but, they do not Love It! It never ceases to amaze me how a little seed can grow in to such a big plant and provide so much wonderful food!

Megan said...

I LOVE the perfect garden dream. It is exactly the hope you were describing, and what a perfect time to dream of it, but during the middle of winter, when it seems there is nothing but dead and cold. :)

The Mom said...

Robin, its funny I never thought I would be a gardener. My mother and grandmother always had gardens and I had no interest until we bought the house and had kids. Now I can't get enough.

Megan, its the dream that keeps me going! There is nothing better.

Daphne Gould said...

Decades ago I lived in a condo. I couldn't wait to get a house so I could get my hands dirty. I didn't know anything about community gardens then. I may have moved back into the city, but at least I have a place to grow things. And a ton of seeds that I've collected over the years. I do love my seeds.

meemsnyc said...

It's always fun to dream of a perfect garden!

The Mom said...

DAphne, the community gardens here just started last year. It is a great thing for those that have no land.

Meemsnyc, it is fun!

kitsapFG said...

The garden and the process of gardening is definitely my "happy place" too. It's a great combination of magical ("that big plant came from THIS tiny seed?") and practical (feeding ourselves with nourishing and abundant food). I love that my work is rewarded with something very tangible at the end - food.

Great post. :D

Lorie said...

Yes, I agree with Robin. When it's in your blood you find a way to do it no matter the obstacles. When we lived in post housing on an Air Force base in Utah and were not able to have a veg garden in our yards, the kids and I got a site at the community garden on the other side of the base. We had to haul everything from home to the site, and back again, but it was all worth it. We have fond memories of our garden experience that year!