Why I garden

I garden because it is giving me joy.

Joy to do something good for the earth - land previously used for weedy grass with no benefit to anyone is now being used to grow healthy food in a sustainable way.

Joy because this fits into my budget - in theory, anyway, I will reap what I sow and will collect a financial benefit as well as a healthy bite to eat.

Joy because I'm reconnecting with the earth - feeling wind on my face, feeling the texture of the soil, learning about growth cycles in plants.

Joy because I'm teaching my daughter these things.

Joy because a sun ripened strawberry, warm from the vine, is about the most delicious thing on earth.

Joy because it's something our family can do together, interacting with one another.

Joy because it's useful, purposeful.

Joy because it's "fun" physical therapy, working my body the way it's meant to be worked.

Joy because it's about life, not illness, not worries.

Joy because I'm proud of my learning, proud of my accomplishments (weed-free dirt....!), proud of what it is I'm attempting to do.

Joy because gardening is a form of slowing down.

The flowers are nice, but largely ignored right now. I'll have to figure out something sustainable and lovely to plant in the front once the tulips die down; we have lavendar, Grandma Tess's daisies, roses, and just a few other things....but I know we'll need a bit more. It looks like our other daisies and giant pink poppy are coming back, but the flower garden is rather hodge-podge and in need of help.

I have so much to learn. I haven't got composting figured out at all, though the worm bins work overtime. I haven't figured out how to cycle crops so that I have lovely winter crops as well. I haven't figured out if I really do need to plant fava beans to prevent erosion and keep nitrogen in the soil. I haven't even figured out if I've done anything right yet....the only proof will be eating these delicious foods, and not finding out that they cost $10 per bite. (This DOES need to be economical.)

Our back bed has wild geranium growing through it - it's actually pretty but it's going to choke out the irises and peonies if I'm not careful, and I want to do the squash there...but there are only so many hours in a day!

Despite the mountain of mulch we got, and the fact that it isn't all used yet, we're going to run out. Hmmm!

But I garden for the joy of it. It's a very different joy than the kind I'm used to - slower. But joy, none-the-less. It's a peaceful kind of joy.