Magic Garden Season
Some people wish there were more magic in their life or that the world was more like a fantasy novel than what it is. I find that kind of magic in the soil, water, and sunlight--they are full of inexplicable, relentless, enduring life. How in the world does a dried up old bean grow into a crawling vine with gorgeous blossoms and tens of pods, each one full of 2,3,4, or even 10 delicious beans?! How does the minute kale seed transform into a tall, strong, green and purple, curly leaved plant that I can pick leaves from all season long?! Or, my favorite, how can I plant a bed of garlic cloves in October, cover it with straw, not touch it for 6 months, and then it suddenly shoots up to produce elegant scapes and a full, new head of garlic?!
Spring in our garden is miraculous. Parsley made it through the winter as did oregano, thyme, lemon balm, and sage. The garlic's a foot tall and strong despite the unseasonal warmth-then-freezing we experienced this winter. Lettuce is popping up all over the place, pea tendrils are grasping to climb higher and higher, and tomato seedlings (still inside!) have their first true leaves. Today I started sunflowers, corn, and cucumbers. I watered our new (tiny) lemon and fig trees--plants that are not meant for this climate but that remind me of the Mediterranean and so are worth the trouble to bring inside in the winter.
The kudzu will probably be back but we've already reclaimed much of our garden against it, and we're keeping a watchful eye for it this year. The groundhog next door was sunning itself today, but I've covered most beds with row cover to make it a little more difficult for it to snack on our young plants. Our chickens are now full-grown so we can't let them wander freely through our garden or they tear up the straw we've mulched it with--but what a problem to have! Fresh eggs everyday in exchange for keeping a sharp eye out when they're out pecking for food.
All in all, it's a pretty good thing we've got going here in our back yard at Vine & Fig Tree and I'm happy spring is back. Every winter I sort of wonder, to myself, if spring is REALLY going to come. And when it does, it's a little bit more magic for me to experience each morning I get up early to go check on the self-seeded dill, water the swiss chard, or plant potatoes here for the first time. And yes, I'm working on getting some vines to go along with our fig tree so that we can live up to our community's name.
Timothy
