Guys, something about this garden is changing me. What started as dirt and seeds is now this huge, almost out of control patch of plants that are giving us food. Real, actual food that fills our plates, our stomachs, and means we take less cash out of the ATM for the farmers’ market each week.
I actually apologized last week to the guy we usually get all our greens from. “Hey, we’re only not getting kale and chard because we’re having a few weeks’ success with our own lettuce. But we’ll buy more soon!”
You know what he said?
“That is the BEST thing you could tell me. I love hearing that!”
People who grow food are funny and generous. Maybe that’s why I love my garden so much. It’s making me funny and generous! I want to be those things!
But really, I love it because it looks like a miracle to me. I’m so impressed with this wild way of creating life (or pole beans if life is too dramatic for you). Just throw the seeds in the ground and water. Or in my case, throw the seeds in the ground way too close together, then water, then refuse to thin the plants because you’re paranoid you’ll pull out the one plant that will give you food. Those beans suffocated the spinach, the cucumber plant is reaching little tendrils out across the patio, and the tomatoes and kale are duking it out for space, and STILL they’re not just surviving, they’re taking over. It’s the coolest.
A few weeks ago, I planted a couple rows of herbs (yes, I know it’s August, but California feels so aseasonal to me) and watching the little sprouts come up has been so exciting.
OK, this boring old lady is going back to her PBS programming now.
It looks so good!
Ah, my nature-loving daughter.
i am so jealous of the space you have, AND ALL THOSE GREENS!
my math-centric beloved calculated how much we were saving from just the 6 weeks we’ve had our illegal rooftop herb garden. i think we’re about breaking even, numbers-wise, but the satisfaction/happiness/all around healthy feeling we get from our little garden is so priceless.
Totally awed with you. I love this!
Paige, you say it so well! “Veiled in myth and wonder yet perfectly clear.”
Dad, I told you. The garden is changing me! I want to go home and plant your old garden back up.
Lan, I really can’t believe that we’re actually saving money by growing our own food. It seems obvious, but it’s so cool. (And herbs are expensive, so they’re so worth growing.)
Shanna and Tim, come eat from our garden! And considering I spent all of 8 minutes planting the whole thing, I don’t think you should look to me as a symbol of gardening excellence.
Such beautiful abundance, how wonderful to have that just outside your back door!
I’m so jealous of your basil. My basil-in-a-pot is pathetic. Next year it gets its own garden space.