As a gardener who has been in competition with my sidekick each year to see ‘how does our garden grow’ - who’s garden grows the biggest and best, we both seem to be faring ‘even-steven’ on the scale of produce gleaned so far this growing season.
As I am getting older, gardening has been such a rewarding experience both mentally and physically, and for the last few years, the man in my life has finally realized its therapeutic benefits too. He’s out there from the crack of dawn until he needs to head to the office, as well as a visit to his patch at noon and then again for much of the evening chatting it up with the broccoli, a combination of all kinds of pepper plants, his garlic, and all the rest of his choice vegetables. Not to mention the great visits he has with our neighbours, as they wander back and forth between yards to oogle over each other’s plants.
In the spring I tease him about going out to the alley to have ‘sex’ every morning as he cross-pollinates his zucchini.
For many of us, gardening is more than a mere hobby; it’s a passion we pour ourselves into where creativity flourishes with abundant benefits, especially during harvest season. When spring arrives, we plant our seeds optimistically in the hope there will be a reward for the work invested. And let me tell you, the fruits of our labours are starting to manifest in ‘more-than-enough’ so we can share with our neighbours and friends.
This past weekend I nearly had to wrestle the man in my life to do what I planned to do. Now that he’s got the bug (gardening), he thinks he needs to finish the job right to processing his products for bragging rights.
He had his plans that disrupted mine in ‘my’ kitchen domain…his assortment of hot peppers that he nurtures with tender loving kindness needed dealing with by his hands only, as well as an abundance of beans that we made refrigerator bean pickles with.
My refrigerator dills took a back seat to the exuberant husband, as well as the zucchini that was lounging expectantly in the refrigerator for the last few days to be used in zucchini loaves.
As well, our 40# of concord grapes from our grapevine that have been sitting in the freezer since last fall finally made it into concentrate. Now, all we have to do is try and figure out what to do with it…maybe grape jelly? …maybe grape syrup for waffles? …maybe grape concentrate for juice? Whichever way we use it, it’ll be ‘nectar’ to our tastebuds.
Now, for the rest of the story, I’ll have to leave the test-tasting until later.
Happy gardening everyone!
“My passion for gardening may strike some as selfish, or merely an act of resignation in the face of overwhelming problems that beset the world. It is neither. I have found that each garden is just what Voltaire proposed in Candide: a microcosm of a just and beautiful society.”
— Andrew Weil, American Scientist
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
