Dear Mildred,
Though the nights are still cold, it seems winter is behind us enough to begin gardening. The purple crocuses have given way to the yellow daffodils and forsythia. Infant leaves are beginning to emerge on the trees.
Every year I am told by well meaning loved ones that I ought not to put so much effort into gardening. It's too much what with the children and the housekeeping and all. Every autumn I grump at my failure upon keeping up with the garden and tell myself to make it smaller in the spring. Every spring I scheme up ways to make it bigger and more productive.
I feel a moral obligation to garden. After all, I have the land. It feels like such a waste to have an open expanse of mowed grass where a garden would thrive. I have the skill. I may as well use what my father taught me. I have the need. It isn't cheap to buy organic, locally grown, fresh produce. I have the love. I do enjoy gardening, even if I am not a P. Allen Smith.
Spring opens up hope that perhaps this year I will keep up on the weeds. This year I will not let produce go to waste. This year I will have a flower garden about which neighbors will remark.
This year, I am more realistic than idealistic about my gardening. It is what it is because I can only do so much. Still, a bit of effort and all that.
I put in some bulbs and tubers I purchased at Aldi today. Afterward I prepared two raised beds and planted spinach, lettuce, cabbage, kale, and peas. It felt good to stick my hands in dirt. It felt so accomplished to shovel out my own compost to use in the beds.
Have you done any gardening yet? I look forward to hearing about your green thumb!
Sincerely,
Mrs. D. Scott
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