The Next Best Thing to God's Heart in a Garden

Earlier this year my daughters, a few friends, and I attended a wonderful evening of educating ourselves on the wonders of organic gardening.  By the time we left we were all geared up to purchase precious seeds from a reputable company, and the warming pad and lights necessary to properly roust our little seedlings from the sleeping soil, had the name (it escapes me now) of the bonafide best potting soil and the one place we could lay hands on it within a 50 mile radius.  A delay of a few days allowed my albeit 'not-necessarily-better' self to prevail, definitely it was my more real self.  One bit of advice from the evening remained ringing loud, clear, and true.  Start small.

Normally, my husband is the "farmer" in our marital bond; but with his years of experience he has his own way of doing things.  He has made a lot of organic changes in our yard care, but as he hadn't attended the meeting, and I didn't feel up to trying to convey the elucidation we have received (ie I can't remember enough to fill a decent paragraph), and he was otherwise occupied with his real job... at length I decided to pitch the start from seed ideal.  However, I did drive the distance and pick up some organic baby plants and brought them home for him and the girls to plant with organic feed.  I'd also had dreams of either having more raised beds to plant in (to add to our one), and/or attempting hay bale planting.  Seriously, how cool is that?!  Be that as it may, we now have two heirloom tomato plants, one tomatillo, three cherry tomato plants, three jalapenos, an italian basil, and a thai basil - all doing remarkably well, I am pleased as punch to report.

And I have decided that I will pacify my delayed desire to have much more produce growing in my own yard by supporting my local farmer's market.  I've always known we had one, I just didn't have the understanding of its importance to give me the oomph to get my butt out of bed on a Saturday morning. Today, I came home with two kinds of yellow squash, bok choy, garlic and onions, a jar of apple pomegranate jelly, and two lbs. of local antibiotic/hormone-free bratwurst.  Even more exciting, I brought home TWO different kinds of beets.  Yes, that two-year-old New Year's Eve specter of a resolution will be vanquished within the week!  The lady who sold me the traditional ruddy beets swore they'd taste like candy.  While I'm not going to hold it against her when they don't, her pitch pushed me over the edge.  And the second bundle looked so beautifully artistic - really, their deep golden hue ready to be captured in a still life - I just had to give them a go as well.

So, the moral is: sometimes our thwarted desires lead us into lanes of unexpected pleasures.  That's a worthwhile lesson, don't you think?