Last night I ate a lot of cherry tomatoes with my evening meal. Usually there wouldn’t be anything special about that but these came from our own garden. There’s just something special about eating food you’ve grown yourself. Food you’ve watered, weeded around, patiently waited for, and finally get to enjoy. After living in apartments for so long without a garden it makes this tiny harvest feel even more enjoyable.
Back in Texas gardening was hit or miss. Some years the grasshoppers would come in clouds and destroy an entire garden overnight, stripping not just the vegetables but even the leaves and bark from trees.
This year though we have a garden again. One thing about gardening here in the high desert is that it’s so hot for so long the growing season should last till January! Just kidding, it doesn’t, but it’s definitely a longer growing season than Santa Fe. We’ve only been in this house a short time but we’ve already been able to plant and harvest. Most of our plants came from Home Depot instead of from seed since we got started so late in the season. But they’re already giving us fresh produce.
I planted the garden the day after we moved in. It was one of my highest priorities after we bought this house. For the first time in 6 years we have enough backyard space to really enjoy gardening again. So far we’ve harvested shishito peppers, radishes, jalapenos, and tomatoes. Today I’ll be picking squash and the zucchini and bell peppers won’t be far behind.
Of course gardening is about more than the food. It gives me more time outside. It gives me exercise while I work the soil, pull weeds, water the plants, and collect what they’ve produced. More importantly though it teaches me patience.
Patience has never come naturally to me but I think I’m slowly getting better at it as I get older. A garden doesn’t care whether you’re impatient or not. It’s gonna grow at its own pace and all you can do is tend to it while you wait. I think every garden grows two things, food and patience.
Next year I want to expand it by quite a bit. It’ll mean more work but also more rewards. Along with what we’re already growing I want to add corn, okra, cantaloupe, and pumpkins. Speaking of growing things, I was worried about my bonsai trees when we moved here. Trees don’t like being moved and moving them to a completely different climate and elevation seemed really risky. To my surprise though they’re actually doing better here than they ever did in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Even my aspen is thriving here!
There’s just something about caring for living, growing things that brings me peace. I can’t explain it or adequately put it into words. I just know that it’s very rewarding and for me deeply spiritual. It’s a hobby but it’s also something more than just a hobby.
I think it’s important to have something in our lives that becomes a sanctuary. Something we come back to day after day that gets us away from our worries and reminds us to just be present. Whether that’s a garden, a meditation cushion, a woodworking bench, a paintbrush, or a favorite walking trail doesn’t really matter. What matters is having something that brings us back to ourselves.
This life is unrepeatable. There’s so many distractions fighting for our attention every day. I think we all need something that helps us slow down and notice the beauty that’s already here and remember to be grateful for the miracle of being alive.
Amituofo
~Buck
The Sandias turning pink with the sunset.
Leave a Reply