My Garden

Now that Walter and I are homeowners again, we planted a garden. When we moved in we got some raised garden beds for some chard, lettuce, and tomatoes. Now that summer is over and planting season is here  again, we added a garden bed and planted many things directly from seeds. This is new to us and has been oddly satisfying; there is something about watching something you planted sprout and begin to grow.

Being the nerd that I am I created a growing and planting guide based on the time of year and type of seeds we have, that way we can rotate crops come spring and also get a full harvest from what we grow. It was planned out and then we planted. So many things we planted: 5 kinds of lettuce, radishes, carrots, celery, chard, spinach, beets, rutabaga, cauliflower, and kale. Then we used the smaller planters to do our herb garden with basil, thyme, cilantro, parsley, sage, arugula, rosemary and I feel something else, but I forgot, so we will see once it comes up.

It had been weeks since we planted. Watered. Waited. During those weeks of waiting we took a trip to Tuscon and ran into a gardener there who built and maintained multiple restaurant gardens in the city. I think we spent about an hour talking with him. It was great and highly informative. He sampled us a few delicious things he picked from his garden as he was watering and we talked. He told me what nozzle to get for my hose to do the best watering, how often and long to water in these desert climates, how to water citrus trees here and fertilize them, and shared some of the best things to plant. I loved it. Those kinds of interactions are the best to me and it really made my day having it. After all those weeks of watering and waiting, nothing was sprouting. NOTHING. I was feeling like I failed. Wondered what I had fucked up. What had gone wrong? We took a trip to Seattle for a long weekend. It was cold. When we returned it was cold in Phoenix too! Not normal October temperatures. I looked at the garden and finally saw a sprout. One. Just one lonely sprout out of the hundreds we planted. I had hope.

I continued on with what I was doing, hoping the cold hadn't killed off my seeds that might or might not be sprouting. It hadn't killed the one I saw. I reflected on what the Tucson man had told me, "Water long so the water seeps into the ground deep." Hadn't I been doing that? I thought I had. Perception is one thing; reality is something totally different. I decided to test the ground I had been vigilantly watering for the last 5 weeks (knowing some of the germinations were supposed to happen in 7-14 days and hadn't). I dug down a bit and it was bone dry. The top soil when I was watering looked drenched! I didn't want to over water, but now it was looking like I was under watering my garden. I changed action immediately. A few days passed. In those days I saw two radish sprouts pop up. JOY! I continued. Here I am 2 weeks later and I have sprouts from so many things I planted popping up, slowly but surely. I have to say I am learning patience with this garden, but gaining so much gratification from it as well, even more once we can harvest it. It is exciting to go out daily and see what new things are sprouting, what things are growing bigger. I am loving the garden and can't wait until we can utilize it for cooking and consumption.
  

As I watered it today I was looking at how it pertains to life. Here are some lessons and analogies I have gotten from it:

1. Just because you plant the seed doesn't mean it will grow. You can only do so much, but a bad seed is just that, a bad seed, so move on and nurture those seeds that are growing.

2. My garden is like people in my life. I can take them in, care for them, and help them grow. Some give me excitement in return, while others don't do anything at all. So like my garden, nurture those relationships that bring me joy and get rid of those that just don't do anything for me.

3. To tag on to #3, just planting the seed doesn't make it grow, it takes a lot of effort and attention on my part. Without that love and attention, the relationship will not grow and it is my fault for that.

4. The perfect garden for me is one that is diverse and that can provide many different flavors and textures to my palate. Same with friends, diversity is key to understanding and becoming better yourself.

5. Just because you planned for it to be a certain way, nature has its own way of doing things and its own timing. Patience and endurance are needed for this ride.