Why Garden?

For me, the satisfactions of gardening are many …

… the taste of a fresh-picked strawberry in June or a sun-warmed tomato in August

… the sweet and spicy aromas that fill my yard and greet me when I come home

… the waves of crocuses and other spring flowers, which bring color to my life after the long monochrome winter

… the October skies asters, which keep blooming in their hundreds until Thanksgiving

… the raspberries, sweet and succulent

… the sight of butterflies, colorful and beautiful

… the bees of many sorts, happily collecting pollen and nectar

… the cardinals that nest each spring in the back of the garden

… the deep rose scent that wafts in my kitchen window, especially on warm days when the air is rising

… feeling like I am doing my small part to feed and nourish the web of life, which feeds and nourishes me

… seeing the neighborhood children stop to look at a flower, watch a bee, touch a soft leaf

… taking a weedy and neglected public space and turning into a small spot of beauty for anyone to enjoy

… feeling the patterns of the seasons, the rhythms of life, as part of the warp and weft of my own life

… knowing what is entailed in growing my own food, so feeling all the more grateful to live in a society where food grown by other people is so abundant and available and reliable

… being in relationship with a piece of the earth, getting to know it well and increasing its fertility, its ability to nurture life

… learning to see more deeply and more precisely, so wherever I go I perceive more of both the history of the land and its beauty

… feeling awed, time and again, by the power of life and its delicacy and persistence