A dream coming true
Yesterday my daughter and I planted seeds in our new garden in our new Kentucky home.
People and books both suggest over and over to keep a journal of one’s work in the garden and of what one notices.
So, Entry 1: This is a dream coming true.
And it is collaborative and laborious. It is interesting and mundane. It is muddy. It is real.
The dream of this garden started long before I can even remember, but what I can remember is setting the table a few weeks ago with breakfast by candlelight and luring my family into a think tank. It didn’t take much; these folks are thinkers and dreamers.
The key-hole garden plan that we came up with maximized our space, but was entirely cost prohibitive.
Enter Dee, our new friend and deaconess, with her passion and connections. She’s recreated the wise woman of Proverbs 31; in short, Dee’s a badass. And she’s “got a guy” for everything.
Within a week or so we had local lumber, two truckloads of garden soil, pockets of just enough time, and borrowed tools.
And now we have a garden.
Yesterday Hen and I donned our hats and went to it.
We sowed after stringing together squares for planting. I’m using the square-foot-gardening method because it’s the only way I can conceptualize the ground right now.
We ordered seeds from Johnny’s when the only organic options we could find locally were three rosemary starts at Wal-Mart. I hear organic seeds and starts abound in the spring, though. Until then we’ve gone with my favorite lady farmer’s advice. Johnny’s is an employee-owned company and we received our seeds within 4 days of ordering.
The ground is unfamiliar and yet inviting. I felt so vulnerable squatting to seed what may become wonderful and nourishing vegetation and what might amount to a bunch of too-little-too-late.
Ah, but that’s where faith comes in. That’s where I remember waving to the college student walking home from class and hollering hello to my neighbor. That’s where I remember the feel of my hands on the soil and the awe in Hen’s eyes.
After all, it’s about relationships, isn’t it?
To be here is gift.