It's been raining since my last planting on Sunday.  Nothing has germinated.  The instructions on the seed packets said 7-10 days.  It's been two or three.  Don't those seeds know that I operate on an immediate gratification system?


Why is the success of this garden plot so important to me?  Maybe because I am dating a farmer and need to prove to her my ability to be as equally farm savvy - ridiculous, I know. Maybe I am obsessed with proving I learned something last season apprenticing at Drumlin Farm.  


Still, I  can't help by question my motivation.  I am single person.  I cook alone most nights of the week.  I am financially fortunate enough to be able to afford not only to shop at a local coop, but to be a member as well.  AND, my favorite past time is food shopping.  I swear I go every day.  I love to read labels and hunt for deals and steals. 


Why on earth would I go to the effort of growing my own food?  Why would anybody these days with the more than 38,000 products available at any given super market?  I would assume because vegetable gardening is about so much more than food access.

Ed Smith of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible said, "After all, Eden was garden... the garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life's most basic processes."

Gardening this season is bringing up so many things for me.  A need to prove a bit of independence - taking back my access to good quality food.  Standing up against the Industrial Food Complex.  Doing my part to reduce my consumption and contribution to the global economy. Proving that even in this ownership society, a renter can live off the land of the community.  

It's bringing back so many childhood memories of my father and grandfather's gardening and my grandmothers grand canning operation - making me feel more connected to those roots, the gardener/farmer/homesteader I believe I was born to be.  My grandparents generation was healthier than mine and they grew, consumed, processed and stored the majority of their own food.   And they lived without the modern conveniences of ipads and laptops.  And I think they lived better for that very reason.  This garden helps me to unplug from that type of technology and into a better relationship with myself, the land and this community.

This garden is also helping me to put down some roots, literally and figuratively.  I have never been in one place very long and I certainly never was in a place with any intention of staying there  - if only for that particular moment.  I am one who judges harshly where I am at and looks for the next newer shiny thing, almost instantly.  But just for today, this garden is perfect.  It's right where I need to be.  My spirit feels renewed and I am intimately connected with life's most basic processes - planting seeds, watching the rain feed the soil, knowing that one day - right here I am going to be enjoying some amazing veggies!