Wednesday, November 19, 2008

"slow gardening"

I didn't know slow gardening was a new movement.

My problem is I leave to go to my garden and say "back in half an hour". Two hours later I come home. And no one's surprised I took longer than I said. I always do.

Its hard to know all the garden chores that need to be done until you are in the garden. Weeds can grow surprisingly fast. Tomatoes all of a sudden need staking or basil flowers need picking. Harvesting and washing a nice big crop takes time. And as the cold comes, arranging the mulch to protect the last greens takes time.

But my real problem is I don't plan for being awed by the beauty of the next day in the garden. I forget that each day the sunflowers get bigger and the potato foliage more lush. I forget how good the sun (or the rain) feels on my back. I forget how sweet the birds sing in the morning. Skippy sprawls out on the warm soil and I look for a few more weeds to tend to. Sometimes it just takes more time than I planned to soak it all in.

So, yes, that's me. I'm a slow gardener. I'm glad to hear I'm part of a new movement.

9 comments:

Daphne Gould said...

In the summer I'm a slow gardener. I get distracted by listening to the hum of the bees or just seeing how pretty the chard stems are. But in the winter I tend to be much quicker. The other day I was in and out of the garden as fast as possible. My fingers were still frozen after brushing ice off my lettuce before I picked it. Brr.

jimmycrackedcorn said...

I agree. It doesn't even seem like work or a chore to me. :)

Susie said...

Guilty:-)

Michelle said...

I think it's actually an old movement that's finally found a name! I can't resist pausing to watch the activity in and around the garden, sometimes to the point of forgetting just why I went out there anyway.

Anonymous said...

Your dog is so cute! He smiles and everything. :-) But more on topic, your post reminded me of this article I dug up on the HGTV website. You might find it interesting.

http://www.whgmag.com/index.php/368-garden-tip-3-the-art-of-slow-gardening

naltieri said...

Yes, most of the time it is about the process and not the result. Time to think, contemplate, feel.
Nick

Kateri said...

This made me laugh. That is the way I garden. Definitely about the process, not so much the results, though they can be nice, too.

Lisa said...

I love 'puttering' in my garden, and can spend hours doing so quite happily, too. Nice to be reminded of that while indoors on a grey rainy November day.

Thanks, too, for the link to Felder's piece about 'slow gardening' -- excellent!

Garden Tools said...

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