Putting in the home garden

[Preparing the soil and readying for planting]
[Pulling weeds by hand and enjoying some early morning sun]
[Applying some old-fashioned people power to the soil]


A person who undertakes to grow a garden at home, by practices that will preserve rather than exploit the economy of the soil, has his mind precisely against what is wrong with us. . . . What I am saying is that if we apply our minds directly and competently to the needs of the earth, then we will have begun to make fundamental and necessary changes in our minds. We will begin to understand and to mistrust and to change our wasteful economy, which markets not just the produce of the earth, but also the earth's ability to produce. -Wendell Berry

With rain washing out planting opportunities the previous two weekends, we finally got our garden planted on Saturday. With the soil just the right texture due to the more than ample rains we’ve received, our garden plot, a combination of sandy soil, with healthy measures of clay mixed in, seemed grateful to receive the good working it received from a combination of hand tools and manual labor provided by my wife and I.

Saturday, with its summer-like temperatures and abundant sunshine, allowed us the chance to catch up on many outdoor projects that had previously been neglected. The best part, for us, was working the soil and putting in six rows, including green beans, squash (two varieties), radishes (two varieties), some mesculan and other green leaf lettuce and two tomato plants.

There is something inherently therapeutic about getting your hands in the soil. Maybe it’s reestablishing a tenuous connection with the earth that is severed by our tendency towards technology. Whatever it is, having a garden again (after last summer’s absence) feels right.