Hello from Anita! đŒ
âCome see my garden!â I suggested to my highly educated, accomplished friend, who had just flown in on her private jet and whizzed by to visit.
This is what I wanted her to see:
There's an excitement and surprise in very early spring. Every day, I am drawn down the path to discover what has been revealed in my little corner of heaven. I get a thrill when I spot tiny emerald shoots pushing up toward the light.
I picture my china teapot on the windowsill bursting with bright, fresh cut blooms.
Shooing away chickens, and deftly dodging droppings I led the way down the gravel path to the fortress like garden enclosure, safe from marauding deer. My faithful old dog limped behind, fur falling off in unsightly clumps.
He only ventures out of his bed, in the middle of all the action in the kitchen, with lots of encouragement. My family canât understand why we havenât put him down, since he doesnât have a good âquality of lifeâ. Care for him in these final months necesitates that we both rotate, staying close by to help him up and out during the day.
My friend carried her clipped and shampooed poodle in a bag, hyper excited at his first sight of poultry. She tiptoed along the path, expecting the Garden of Eden to be unveiled.
This is what she actually saw:
She was probably wondering âWhat was it you wanted to show me? It looks pretty ragged to me.â but was much too polite to say.
It's pretty much just dirt, but to me, beautiful, rich compost and a smattering of green shoots here and there, that you have to find with a magnifying glass, unless you know where to look.
Discarded plastic containers and garden tools lay strewn about, like childs toys. Some empty 2 gallon kitty litter containers full of water stand like unkempt soldiers ready to douse a thirsty seedling when I donât feel like hauling around a hose. The pots and and parts of projects ongoing, unnoticed.
It later dawned on me, my vision was only clear to me.
I had to laugh.
My eyes are focused on future results and I realized that part of having a garden is the excitement of discovering new growth. Iâve worked that soil, Iâve nurtured and watered and now it's beginning coming to life.
All dreams coming to fruition are tender like those tiny shoots.
She wouldnât know all the rocky steps it has taken just to have this wonderful foundation to build on. Infrastructure is not particularly sexy unless you truly comprehend the potential end results. Because our ground is so rocky and arid, we have to build it up with beds, filled with topsoil and amended with tons of compost.
Weâre still working on the irrigation system, but itâs been a huge feat to be pumping water out of a 500 foot hole cut through layers of rock with a windmill into a tank then into pipe trenched hundreds of feet to bubble out at the turn of a handle. We are water independent. ( As long as the underground aquafer holds out for us and for the millions of Texans who depend on it )
Part of the reason that people long to live in the country, is this intimate connection to the land, no matter what sort of idea you have in mind. Another big motivation for us was unplugging from the craziness of the city, which we did long before the COVID plandemic.
Back when it was eccentric, not trendy.
I don't have a big homestead with long rows of vegetables to plow or want to milk a cow. For me, raised beds, a few chickens, our family horses and steer are just fine.
I know I can go to the store and buy lettuce for probably less than what it costs me to cultivate it but I take a lot of pride in growing vegetables and flowers. It's such a joy eating fresh, home grown food, even if right now, it's just a few herbs to scatter in a dish, not to mention the increased nutrition.
My garden gives me pleasure whenever Iâm out there. I find serenity and connection with my Creator who delights in all his grand creations, including me!
Thatâs what I really wanted my friend to see.
Invite your friends and family.
You have another friend who delights in God's creation of you.... and your garden! Keep chronicling from your little patch of heaven. My garden still lays fallow. You are an encouragement.
Gardeners see possibilities where others just see dirt!