Gaining a heart of wisdom
What verbs have defined your days of autumn in 2019? There's always something happening in this busy life under the sun, even if it's only talking or thinking--a couple of seriously under-rated verbs, in my opinion. Here at the end of November, I'm looking forward to celebrating around gratitude and pumpkin pie while taking one… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Autumn 2019
There are no minutes in the garden-- Only rows, A measure not of time, but of task. In the first garden, Adam was given the task of naming: Zebra and musk ox; Cheetah and gerbil. He punched no clock, but poured out creativity, fulfilling his role. Eve may have pruned apple trees for optimal fruition,… Continue reading The Work of the Garden
The garden is running late this year. Cold nights (making for cold soil) have resulted in pea plants that sprouted on schedule, grew to a fixed point, and then sputtered and stalled out, stunted. The prophet Isaiah had things to say about who is in charge of growth, both in the garden and in the… Continue reading The Quiet Miracle of Roots and Leaves
Life Together gets messy. People stand in our way at the kitchen counter and leave toothpaste in the bathroom sink. Mired in the muggy heat of July, we mess up each other's routines and call one another at inconvenient moments. And yet, the truth is that we need each other. We need the jolt that… Continue reading Musings: July 2018
Every year in late spring, we till up an admirable crop of rocks as we prepare the garden soil for planting. Some years I have been diligent about collecting them. Other years . . . not so much. Regardless, there always seems to be a plentiful supply, and after twenty plus years of gardening in… Continue reading A Time to Gather Stones
My favorite hoe was a gift from a friend. Its blade is just the right size for scooping up the dirt to support a growing plant or for upending the roots of pesky weeds. While it's making a difference in the lay of the land and the weed-to-wanted-plant-ratio in my garden, its familiar feel in… Continue reading Musings: June 2018
The sturdy wooden stakes that supported my tomato plants through their season of growing have been pulled and re-purposed. Now that the garden lies exhausted and well past fruition, those beat up stakes have been pressed into service holding burlap to protect our rhododendron bushes from the weight of snow and the whip of howling… Continue reading Musings — October 2017
The geese have already begun their practice maneuvers over our heads on this country hill. They're getting ready to go, so at least one goofy son will have asked the annual joke question: "Why is one side of the V longer than the other?" Pause and grin. The answer? "One side of the V is longer than the… Continue reading Musings — September 2017
Here on this country hill, I see my neighbors from a distance. The stillness and solitude are a bonus, but there are times when I think it would be nice to look up from my weeding and see a friendly face over the garden fence, to compare notes on ripening tomatoes and Japanese beetles, and… Continue reading Visiting Over the Garden Fence
Apparently, in addition to all his better-known gifts, Thomas Jefferson was a gardener. His experimentation with horticulture added over five hundred new fruits and vegetables to the world, but he was never able to successfully cultivate a vineyard at Monticello, his beloved Virginia home. Here's why: the French varieties of grapes he coveted had no… Continue reading Finding Rest in Humility
