Garden Images

There is something about a spring garden that I love, perhaps most of all the gardening season. I love the tidiness of it all; the stretch of growth you can almost see; the verdant leafs of radishes, spinach, lettuce; and the potential that is almost palpable.

...radishes, like school children, neatly rowed up...

...the ruffle-like bouquet of lettuce...

...broccoli, at the head of the class, already heading up...

...peas, so far this year, untouched by rabbits, will soon begin their climb...

...and the beans, like umbrella-ed soldiers marching not quite so straight...

...unfurling quietly, but in big ways...

...onions shooting up so straight they seem like spears...

...and just a few of the 30 tomato plants along tomato fences...

...and this one I just could not resist. I saw it at an Amish greenhouse, and left it their that day, though it was only $2.50 and already had flowers aplenty and 4 tomatoes on it. But it just would not leave my mind, nagging at me constantly, so that the next day, back I went, and here it sits, at the head of the 'class' far and away advanced...

...and the potatoes which seemed to have sprouted and pushed themselves up all in a day...

I can sit in my garden chair for a long time just being. The relationship between the plant, the soil, the sun, the rain, it is almost visible, there at the edge of sight. It seems a holy place, my garden, where nourishment of body and soul abounds.

...and last, but clearly not least, the plethora of zinnias vying for their space, I can almost see their fall presence, exploding with a profusion of colors, shapes and sizes....

I am grateful for this garden. I feel privileged to be the one tending it. I am thankful for what these plants will give to me, and pray what I give back is worthy.