This is a picture of the Hazelnut & Goumi bushes and the apple & pear trees in 2013. We had markers up to make sure we knew where they were planted.

Just three years later and it’s changed so much!

When I think of the small steps we took each year – adding a couple of trees or berry bushes – raising the garden beds a little higher to be kinder to our backs – a collection of small steps add up to this beautiful spring – it has all been worth it. We are hoping to see fruit on the Goumi and the Hazelnut this year. Just barely visible on the right is a pear tree that hasn’t grown big enough to flower yet and in the foreground is the Jostaberry that has fruited since the first year we planted it.

As I roamed around the garden today, I realized I could post for many days just about the different berries, and probably will. It’s getting dense enough and I am happy to see the trees are big enough to hold the little birds – because little birds eat little bugs that eat everything…

Pippin is sitting at my feet protecting me because we are having our first thunderstorm of this season and I am smiling because I know that the rain from our roof is filling the barrels, the new plants are being watered, and deeper roots of the trees are getting the soaking they need to grow stronger and start producing fruit.

This is the adventure – to put the elements back together that work and let nature do what she has always done. Plants want to grow! With the right conditions and a little encouragement, even in the middle of the city, I can stand in the garden and feel the power of nature being restored. The restoration occurs, not only in the garden, but also within me. We are not so unlike plants – given the right conditions, and a little encouragement, don’t we also thrive?