Putting in the Garden

Bernie and I will be going to a local greenhouse to buy seeds and plants for our garden today. Our plot is pretty large. We’ve made a list: Two kinds of potatoes, three varieties of tomatoes, various peppers, carrots, onions (red and yellow), three types of winter squash, chard, lettuce and lettuce blend. I am open to more inspiration while at the greenhouse. This year I will plant little pots of herbs and set them in the garden so they can take advantage of our automatic sprinkler system while we are gone up north.

Yesterday, Ernie came and plowed our plot as he always does . Right now the soil is beautiful black and finely minced. We need to move quickly into step two or the plot will be full of weed seedlings in a matter of days. First step is to plant the seeds in rows marked by strings stretched between popsicle sticks. Then we will lay newspapers between the rows and top these with piles of grass clippings. It is an amazing amount of work. But once we are done, we can sit back and wait for the rain, sun, and our sprinkler system to do the rest. Perhaps twice during the summer, we will need to pull the weeds that grow up close to the plants. Then, harvesting.

We’ve used the same system for the twelve years we have lived in this house in the country. Variations in bounty occur from summer to summer. It always amazes me when chatting at the farmers’ market in town that the oddities we experience in our garden is shared by other farmers. A good year for tomatoes is shared by all, as well as a bad one for beans.

Is there anything better than a garden to feel like you are sharing in God’s act of creation? Having babies, I suppose, but we’ve left that to the younger folks.