It’s that time in the garden…

You know what time I mean. When everything is growing and the promise of the harvest is right in front of you.  Ignore the rational thoughts of insect, drought, and disease! There is potential right in front of you and it is intoxicating.

Each night we wander out after dinner to water the garden beds and planters from the rain barrels. Squashes, Tomatoes, Apples, Berries, Beans, Potatoes, Corn, Grapes, Peppers, Carrots and more – all before us – existing on this day and in this moment, but as any gardener knows – could be gone tomorrow.

This gardening is different for us. We won’t starve if the garden doesn’t work. We won’t be broke from the loss of a crop. We might be a little heart broken if we don’t have tomatoes to can, but we are still somewhat disconnected from this process.

So we walk. Every night we walk. We look at each raised bed and planter, at each vine and tree. We look at each apple growing on the trees. In this small of a space, it is easier to care for plants and pick off insects or water more, or less where needed.

On this scale we are greatly invested in our garden.

We sit in our chairs and look out over our work and drink a glass of wine and know that we have done all we can. The rest is up to nature and the conditions we have set up – hoping they work the way they should – so that in the middle of winter, potatoes and carrots will become stews and toast will have jelly made from the grapes. It is still early in this experiment and the trees and plants must have more time to mature and reach their full potential. In the meantime, it is a great adventure for anyone who walks the garden path because we strive to reach the same goal – the potential in ourselves.

Potential and a good tomato sandwich or squash soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blueberries