Our relationship to our garden "might" represent our relationships to other undertakings in our lives. As I write this passage I realize I have to change the "we" to "I" for I can not speak authentically to the collective "we"....
"I" am the soil mover. compost guy, raised bed maker and flower bed creator to name just a few of my many tasks. I do a lot of the "grunt work" in the garden which I actually enjoy. Soil making and giving back to mother earth is something I value highly and I spend time tending to my compost piles throughout the season. I smile as I sift out the finished product and see how the following year's crops value from the rich composted soil.
Both my grandfather's were avid passionate gardeners. I was thinking about one of my grandfathers yesterday as I worked in the garden removing weeds and dead raspberry canes. I moved away from where he lived (England) when I was 6 years old and he died a few years later so I don't really recall my times with him. I focused on my task and marveled that the memory of him would come to visit me in the garden. The wisdom of the ancestors flowing up from the earth and giving me a sense of connection. My father doesn't seem to be that interested in gardening although I know he has helped around the garden for most of his married life. My mother is the enthusiastic one and she "tends" to the spirit of the garden in my parent's world.
I have been watching the series " Recreating Eden" which I have found remarkably motivating from the aspect of looking at gardening in a much broader sense with respect to how the act of gardening can define my life. This is the focus of my BLOG.
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