Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024 - 81

ly spring vegetables and seeds into the ground. My
grandchildren spent their own slow time last
fall
building roads and cities in the empty garden, but My
Own Farmer has tilled the soil flat again. I grab some
and squeeze. The dirt remains in a loose clump, much
like a handful of moist chocolate cake. Not too wet,
not too dry, and it's calling for rain, so I lug out the
push plow.
I measure and mark the beginning and end of each
row with Popsicle sticks. Creating straight furrows requires
nothing from me except hard labor and keeping
my eyes on the stick at the end of the row. As I
push the plow through the dirt, I watch the red wing
blackbirds winging around the wetland and study the
clouds sailing overhead. My mind has room to wander
and I enjoy the sun warming my shoulders as I work.
Rows ready, I call in reinforcements. The grandchildren
are the perfect size for placing onions and
potatoes in holes and for poking peas, lettuce and
spinach seeds into the warming soil. I grew up doing
the same thing with my grandmother in her garden.
A newly planted garden cultivates slow time. It will
be a week or more before seeds wake in their loamy
beds to unfurl themselves one leaf at a time. Six weeks
later, we will lie in the garden and peek at the bees
working the flowers. Soon there will be pea pods the
size of our pinkies and we will wander the rows plucking
and tasting what it took two months to grow.
Gardens can't be hurried. The peas will be the first
in a long line of vegetables to ripen according to their
time and season. There is nothing the grandchildren
can do that will speed the tomatoes and beans along,
but there are many slow chores, like weeding and caging,
that we can do together that will help the plants
grow strong. Chores that leave plenty of room in our
heads for pondering and cogitating, and admiring
the garden spider staring at us from the huge webby
wheel she's strung between tomato cages.
If you are longing for slow time, go buy some
seeds. Find a pot or a plot and get your hands dirty.
Spend your summer watching
peas plump in their pods and
corn stretch out to tickle its
tassels against the sky.
And, if you garden
with children, understand
that you will be
planting
more
than
a
garden. You will be planting
seeds of slow time. And,
your harvest will yield far more
than you expected.
MAY/JUNE 2024 81

http://helenga.org

Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024

Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2024 - 3
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