Lessons from the Garden
Today was both melancholy and triumphant.
Let me begin with the little triumph: a green cucumber from the garden! At last! Now that the weather has cooled down and the drought has ended, the very last cucumber of the season is green (and not that strange yellow-orange)! It seems oddly symbolic, doesn't it?
On a more melancholy note, yesterday was the end of the season for the "estate". It was time to pull up the stakes, roll up the chicken wire, and say goodbye to the last tenacious cherry tomatoes hanging so valiantly onto the vine.
When everything was picked and packed away, and the empty plot was all that was left, I thought about the vicissitudes of this gardening season, and realized that I've learned quite a bit. For instance...
1. Rabbits and deer never sleep. Constant vigilance is required!
2. Weeding is excellent exercise.
3. Sometimes gardens do best when left alone.
4. Unexpected plants that pop up in the spring are called "volunteers", and they rock!
5. There is no such thing as too much zucchini.
6. Orange cucumbers don't taste good.
7. It's no good to compare your garden to your neighbor's garden- love your plot for what it is!
8. Every little old man who walks by can't help but ask, "so, you're growin' weeds this year?"
9. Sometimes, the drought wins. But you don't have to like it.
10. Next year is going to be awesome!
Let me begin with the little triumph: a green cucumber from the garden! At last! Now that the weather has cooled down and the drought has ended, the very last cucumber of the season is green (and not that strange yellow-orange)! It seems oddly symbolic, doesn't it?
On a more melancholy note, yesterday was the end of the season for the "estate". It was time to pull up the stakes, roll up the chicken wire, and say goodbye to the last tenacious cherry tomatoes hanging so valiantly onto the vine.
When everything was picked and packed away, and the empty plot was all that was left, I thought about the vicissitudes of this gardening season, and realized that I've learned quite a bit. For instance...
1. Rabbits and deer never sleep. Constant vigilance is required!
2. Weeding is excellent exercise.
3. Sometimes gardens do best when left alone.
4. Unexpected plants that pop up in the spring are called "volunteers", and they rock!
5. There is no such thing as too much zucchini.
6. Orange cucumbers don't taste good.
7. It's no good to compare your garden to your neighbor's garden- love your plot for what it is!
8. Every little old man who walks by can't help but ask, "so, you're growin' weeds this year?"
9. Sometimes, the drought wins. But you don't have to like it.
10. Next year is going to be awesome!
Comments
Post a Comment