Garden growth - my favourite seat
Garden growth - my favourite seat
A place to be still, expand my mind and feed my soul
It is around 8 a.m., the sun is just starting to peak over the fence of my small backyard vegetable garden. I sit down in my garden chair, a comfy faux wicker seat. A wave of calm washes over me as the sun hits my face. I close my eyes for a moment and take a deep breath.
It has become a beautiful morning ritual. I am not there to do any work; I just want to soak everything in. I watch a bee buzz from flower to flower on my thyme plants. Then I notice new peas that seem like they magically appeared overnight. I get up to grab a couple to eat as a pre-breakfast treat, then grab a couple leaves of baby kale – so sweet. As I am bending over, I notice tiny cucumbers starting to emerge. It makes me smile inside and out.
Mornings in the garden are magical. You can feel the lifeforce. Many of the plants I started from seeds, nurtured them in my garage for a couple of months and now they flourishing and feeding me, as well as feeding other creatures – from bugs to birds.
I am a newbie. This is my first full year growing in the space. I have two six-foot galvanized planters and various pots filled with everything from garlic, to carrots, to tomatoes. I also have plants, such as artichokes, celery and fairy squash I am growing for fun. When we landscaped last year, we also put in three dwarf fruit trees, blueberry plants and perennials that would attract pollinators.
Gardening has been a wonderful learning experience. Whenever I fall in love with something, I do a deep dive. I have attended local talks by master gardeners on natural and sustainable growing methods, I belong to several Vancouver Island growing groups on Facebook and I have watched countless video blogs to get tips on everything from planting to pruning. My favourite Vloggers are Roots and Refuge Farm and Epic Gardening and I watched the film, The Need to Grow. It had the same motivational impact on me, as the films Forks over Knives and What the Health did almost a decade ago, when my husband and I moved toward a plant-based lifestyle.
My learning the past few months has not been limited to gardening. The suffering, unrest and uncertainly the world is experiencing have awakened and challenged me to think and do differently. I know just like my garden, my growth requires constant tending. I am fortunate to have found a place to sit in stillness, gain perspective and move forward.
