Notes from the Garden

Our Garden Blooms in Winter

We near the winter solstice; the shortest day and longest night of the year. It is a time for introspection, being quiet, and being patient. The hard work of summer and fall have passed. The harvests grow smaller, but remain abundant. It is a time for resting in gratitude for what we have accomplished and what is, with a thought for visioning what could be.

We celebrated the garden dedication on November 16. We enjoyed our 100+ attendees, especially the cross pollination, as people from diverse arenas met and conversed with one another. Ideas were shared. New alliances were forged. New projects began to take shape. And people just enjoyed themselves.

We have been less active in the garden since then; planting a few winter crops, cleaning up after the marauding raccoons that visit nightly, pausing to reflect on how to move forward in the new year. I am partial to the pausing just now; maybe sitting on the beautiful bench Greg Marquez built for us and savoring the riotous splendor of the culmination of labor, community, and nature. The bench is a perfect vantage point to regain perspective, recharge the weary body, and retrieve the sense of beauty and wonder often lost in the shuffle of daily life.

Rev. Tera Little of Throop Church emailed me this tangible bit of evidence of the impact of the garden:

“Each week Nancy and I notice more and more people choosing to stroll through the garden, often with a little one in tow. They walk slowly, taking a look at all the lush plantings, reaching out to touch an eggplant, a basil leaf. The moms (so far I've just seen moms) talk to their child about what is growing, how things grow. Sometimes they will take a break on the bench, breathe in and look around. Nancy and I love to watch these journeys through the garden…”

Our harvests have been bountiful this year, measured by bushel and heartspace.

Thanks to all who helped make this manifest.
— January Nordman