A bit of earth

Mary has the makings of a green thumb.  I say makings because it’s still too soon to tell.   

What she does have for certain, is enthusiasm and desire.  She has planted two flower gardens in her grow box- her own bit of earth.  The first garden was annihilated by slugs.  That was pretty disappointing for her.  This second time around we baited the yard. 

She went to the store with me and helped pick out the bait.  She read the labels on the boxes and bottles out loud to me, as we crouched near the bottom shelf of the slug and snail section, our heads together, conferring about the appropriate choice.  Then we went to the seed section, and she picked a packet of mixed wildflowers.  She held my hand and smiled, and there was little skip in her step as we walked to the cashier.

Back at the house, we spread the bait all around and over her little grow box, 

and planted her seeds.  Then she got her watering can out and drenched them.   

Every morning and most evenings, she checks on her little plants, watering them, 

talking to them, delighting in their growth.  She notices everything about them.

memories of gardens past

Last week, she and Siwa planted some vegetables seeds in little containers.  She watches over these too, and gets mad at her friends when they get overzealous with the watering can.  

 She came crying to me one day, when she thought one of her friends had drowned them.

I was thinking about why a garden means so much to her.  I know it does to me.   

A garden is the hope of good things to come. 

It’s the promise of green and beautiful tomorrows. 

A bit of earth can fit into a mason jar, or it can stretch over acres, 

but as long as I’ve got a bit of it, 

I will always try to make green things grow, 

because of what a garden means to me . . .

 hope in the harvest; 

satisfaction in self-sufficiency; 

serenity in the sight of it;

 and most of all,

life- nourishing, vibrant life, 

flowing from the earth to me,

 body and spirit.

 I thank God for a bit of earth, and for the green good things that come of it..