The Goodness of the Garden . . . All the Year Round
May 13, 2025
It’s the magical season of promise
I went for a walk in the rain this afternoon. It wasn’t exactly intentional. I often take a walk during lunch to get outside and breathe deeply of the day. The sparse clouds encouraged me to carry my umbrella just in case. Approximately two-thirds of the way through my walk, just in case arrived.
The steady rain provided a good rhythm for breathing more deeply than I had during the earlier part of the walk, to appreciate not only the smell but also the green glistening that surrounded me. This is the season when I feel like I’m walking in a magical, fairy world as every shade of green erupts from the earth with promises of more colors to come. Those tomato plants will add bright, red fruits. The milkweed will blossom with pink flowers. The grapevines will be rich with purple orbs that we’ll be lucky to eat since the birds or raccoons often get them first.
It’s a time of planting and waiting, of anticipating all the gifts to come. It’s a time of hope and growth, of weeding and thinning, of sunshine and rain. We need it all to grow a garden to feed the people we love and to add beauty for everyone who passes by.
I write and talk so much about gardening that I’m sure people who haven’t been to my home think I live outside of town. Though it is one of my dreams to be away from the traffic on a piece of land large enough for a greenhouse, I embrace the gifts of where I am planted today.
Our yard looks nothing like it did when we moved in 24 years ago. I’ve worked hard to establish perennial gardens that are so thick with flowers and herbs that they require minimal weeding. I’ve acquired a number of containers—round, oblong, small, large—in which I plant fingerling carrots, mesclun mix, basil and anything else I can’t find a space for in the ground.
Getting my hands into the soil is also soul work for me, a time to focus on the mysteries of creation and my role in nurturing it. It helps me reflect and maintain a sense of peace.
What does gardening do for you? And what are you planting this spring?
I too incorporate perennials into my vegetable garden. A nice patch of Milkweed must be sequestered each Spring, as it spreads by roots deep underground. I plant Sunflowers, Zinnias, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), and some mixed Cosmos. Marigolds border my entrance path to the garden and border the plants that are plagued by insects. This is all to add color and life, as we provide for many pollinators to feast, lay eggs, and feed next year’s crop of caterpillars. They dragonflies consume mosquitoes and other flying pests.
The tomatoes, peppers, green beans, and romaine lettuce flourish in the safety of beauty. Beets, Kale, Bok Choy and a smattering of Okra (very unique plant) round out the landscape. On the hillside rest three fledgling Rhubarb plants that may eventually reach five feet tall and around. I was caught in the rain as well, without the just in case umpbrella.
Norb, Thanks for sharing this description of your garden and your knowledge!