The GArdening Life

May 30, 2023

Beloved ~
          Something gorgeous blooms somewhere every month of the year, but around here May starts with daffodils and ends with peonies, pronounced pinies by my kinfolks, making it my favorite.  My whole flowerbed is a nursery, so I’m enjoying other people’s gardens this year.  I’ve discovered an annual flower called Tithonia, or Mexican Sunflower.  The farmer who sold it to me said it’s her hands down favorite.  So I bought two starts for my yard, hoping for bees and hummingbirds she claims will flock to it.  And zinnias, oodles of them.  And lupine, one of which Birdy instantly chewed to bits.  I replanted a stem with some roots still attached; my hopes are not high.  Such a bad dog.  I’m guarding one teensy, tiny tomato from the deer and raccoons who nightly cross my yard.  Apparently this not so stinky repellent is working so far.  Until the rains come I’m choosing to water my baby plants every day instead of turning on my air conditioning.  Daytime is fine so long as I have a fan nearby, and night time is lovely cool.
          Three practices come to mind as I consider gardening life, patience being the first.  Things grow slowly, if at all.  Some seeds die in the ground, or seem too.  Michael Pollen writes of acorns that will lie dormant for a hundred years before splitting into a tiny plant.  Other things explode within weeks of poking them into the dirt.  The first year I grew squash was the last year I grew it for a while.  I picked so much squash I couldn’t give it all away.
          A very low need to control one’s surroundings is also helpful for a gardener.  Nature has her ways and her ways will not be forced, not by our good intentions nor by our hard work.  As with the oak tree, Nature does not operate by seasons or even centuries, but rather by 100,000 year cycles called glacials and interglacials.  She gives us conditions within which to play in the dirt we are given, forcing us to admit that we are but small contributors to the forces that give back flowers and tomatoes.
          Finally, gardeners are highly satisfied by lowly tasks, lowly and repetitive, tedious and itchy.  I pick out the grub worms and carry them to the compost pile.  I pull weeds that grow back by the time I’ve put my tools away.  And I have an ugly scrape on the top of one foot and no less than five hateful bug bites, all of which flare just as I’m about to fall asleep. 
         For all that, why do I love it so?  I think because it reminds me of my smallness in the universe and in the scheme of things, how little is required of me for Creation to operate according to Its own design.  That gives me great relief when the rest of my life can feel overwhelming.  Do less, Creation seems to whisper, I’ve got this.  You rest and wait.  I’ll let you know if I need any help. 
          I pray the day finds you resting, body, heart and soul, and enjoying some gift that only God can give. 

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