Weeds

As you know if you’ve been faithfully reading this blog,  I’m a fairly new weekend vegetable gardener.  (See GARDEN PLOT,   Oct. 18, 2013).  But let me tell you,  I’ve been learning a lot, especially about weeds.

Many weekends this summer we unexpectedly found ourselves stuck in the city,  and though someone was watering my plants,  I hadn’t thought about the weeds.  Sure enough getting back up to the country after two weeks or so, I found my garden plot looking more like a small jungle.

I put on my gardening gloves and started weeding,  and two hot and sunny hours later the garden looked a lot better.  But there were some casualties –  some plants gone to seed;  others so intertwined they came up with the weeds;  carrots pulled up too soon;  lettuce snipped too late;  and one very tired but much wiser gardener.

The friends who encouraged me to plant vegetables were right,  there is something spiritual about it,  in fact something quite miraculous.  So here are some things my garden has taught me:

The earlier you plant, the sooner stuff grows.

When you donate some of your beans and eggplant to the food bank,  you do a good deed and you feel good too.

Patience is a virtue, and anyway you can’t rush a tomato.

If you’re friendly, other gardeners give you good tips and maybe some of their scallions.

You can never have too much of a good thing,  except maybe squash.

When you dig in the dirt, you get dirty,  but you can go home and take a shower.

Gardening is hard work, but in the end it’s worth it.

In fact gardening is a lot like life,  you reap what you sow – plus you get to eat all those fresh veggies!

Dana Susan Lehrman