Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Getting My Hands Dirty in the Meantime

For everything there is a season, 
and a time for every matter under heaven:


 a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 
a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up; 
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 
a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 
a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Lots is happening to keep me busy these days - and there are many reasons to be completely stressed out. But the thing that is helping keep me "grounded", pardon the pun here - is playing in the dirt.  These are the new garden beds in the yard - specifically these are the guys filling them with dirt since I don't have a pick-up in which to haul that much soil, our local supplier helpfully sends folks around with truckfuls of the stuff and a handy hose to put the dirt right where you need it.  That happened earlier this year. Then I had to wait, and wait, . . . . . and wait some more for the weather to warm up just a bit.  This lesson of patience had applications in those other areas of my life, the stress inducing ones, as well as in the garden. But it was just the beginning of Patience 101.

Finally it was time to plant.
Asparagus Crowns

I planted lots of things - vegetables and herbs to keep the new fruit trees that are just a year old company- but the one veggie that I am most excited about is the asparagus. These wacky looking roots called crowns are planted a foot deep on mounds of compost and carefully tended. As each little shoot pokes through the couple of inches of soil layered on it, more dirt is added until the soil is again flush with the top of the bed. They have finally stretched up high enough that the soil is again level, and they've even begun to peek out through the top - and though I can't harvest any actual edible asparagus from them for at least a year, and probably two - I am excited.  They are a tangible sign of hope for a yummy spring meal, in a year or two. This plant for me is a reminder of things happening in their own time. 

There are SO many things in my life that I want to be happening sooner rather than later. There are projects that seem to be having trouble launching, and new friendships that seem to be taking forever to really feel like they are beyond the aquaintance stage, and personal goals that seem to be moving at a snail's pace.  I don't think I am any more impatient than the rest of us in our instant gratification society- but sometimes I just get a bit annoyed that not all things work on MY schedule.  In the meantime, the good news is at least I'll have salad greens soon . . .

Peeking up from the ground are rows of sugar snap peas, arugula, spinach, lettuce . . . and herbs in the wine barrels!

A garden, especially one with asparagus planted, is helping me remember that I can do my part to prepare the ground, plant some seeds, put down some roots.  I can tend things and feed them and try my best to make it all work. But in the end, it isn't all up to me. Part of it is up to powers beyond my control, and part of it is simply waiting for the right time, the appropriate season.  So I'm trying to wait, and for the time being as I wait for my garden to grow, I'm grateful for good friends, for things that are going well in the here and now . . . . and, of course, for the Farmer's Market.

Radishes & Leeks

Salad Greens


Local Mushrooms
Chard