And So It Goes...

This weekend, I planted.

This may not seem like such a big deal to my friends that have big gardens and harvest as I used to do in my old homestead. Last year, my tomatoes were half planted when we decided to up and move and so I didn't really have a garden. It was a sad time for me. I very unexpectedly fell completely in LOVE with gardening when I decided to give it a go when Little Red, just a babe, was learning to walk. I started it as a way to lower our produce bill, but the experience became something completely uexpected and nurturing. A way to slow down what was, even then, a very hectic life. You just can't rush the growing of a garden plant, or the harvesting of a strawberry, it just doesn't work like that.

Over time, that little patch of relative solitude became a respite for me in many ways. I enjoyed the quiet of the morning when I would sneak out while the cherubs were still sleeping to water the plants. All the while enjoying the quiet of our still sleepy neighborhood and listening to the bird songs. I watched the arrival of the dragonflies as they learned there was prey in my organic haven, and a misty shower from my hose. I enjoyed the mouse family that nested in the corner under the composter. I listened with delight to the baby chickadees in the bird house the boys made me for my Mother's Day gift one year.

That little garden evolved over time to be so much more then a patch of dirt with some plants. It became a place for my soul to rest, recouperate and grow. A place where all my nurturing had tangible results, a place where I could produce food to nourish my family, a place to learn to try and succeed and sometimes try and fail. All the while, feeling pride and satisfaction for new life skills learned. But more then anything, feelings of gratitude and thankfulness. It's the place I began to feel as if, if I am just patient and give love and care, the things I nurture will come to fruition. Much easier then the nurturing I give my children, where that outcome is so much more complicated and so much less certain.

So, today, I planted. I found a big hole in my life without my garden. In realizing that we'll have to leave this place before anything would be harvested, I had decided once again not to plant a garden. But, slowly and almost unnoticed, the depression of my life overwhelmed began to get the best of me and I longed to get my hands dirty and feel seed and soil in my fingers. So, I decided to do some container planting as it can come with me when we go to our next endeavor. Today, I planted some organic sugar snap peas. I will not get the harvest that my great 6 foot trellis afforded me in my old garden, but I'm satisfied with the chance to grow something just the same. Last weekend, Little Red and I went to the garden center and got some beautiful pansies, which are pictured above.

I have learned more then one thing with the adventure of my garden. But above all, I learned with my whole heart...

... I am a G-A-R-D-E-N-E-R.

Wishing for you what nourishes your soul, ~Peacemom