A bit more than a week ago I planted some regular peas, some sugar snap peas and some spinach. Today, I saw a few little plants poking their heads up when I went out to water them. So exciting!
There’s something very satisfying about connecting with the Earth in such an up-close and personal manner. Sure, it’s a bit of work, especially when your “soil” is clay. My husband built some raised beds. We filled them with a mixture of plain old dirt, manure and other organic materials, including wonderful home-made compost, and mixed well. Cool-weather crops were sown in February. Now, we water and wait.
I don’t know if anyone else feels these almost maternal stirrings I have toward my little garden brood. I tend to them every day and rejoice when they thrive. I am devastated when they don’t. I watch their stages of development with fascination…the first little shoots, the growing stalks, stems and leaves, the beautiful bursting buds and finally the fruits. They feed me as I have nurtured them.
This really is the circle of life. In this day of technology and invention, I find it a necessity to personally interact with nature. It gives me perspective and provides an order to my existance. I see times and seasons come and go, each stage necessary and beautiful in it’s own way. I watch and I learn. And it helps me to grow.