I Have Great Faith in a Seed

It is spring both in time and life. I have been hard at work clearing a piece of dirt in my yard for food. This has been a thought of mine for the entire 10 years I have lived in this house. As with so many things in my life, I think thoughts and dream dreams and one day I wake up and know the time is right for it to come into being. So my back yard is now home to a few plants that will feed me both physically and spiritually. There's just something about being a part of growing things. It was a part of my childhood by simply growing up in Iowa but it is also part of the legacy my family has passed on to me. There is nothing better than the taste of food picked fresh from the garden.

My plan was to plant early so on the first day of spring, there I was out digging in the dirt. I love the feel of dirt under my fingernails. It is the ultimate of being connected to the earth. During my first few ventures in the spring I have to feel the dirt on my fingertips. It is the joy of experiencing the garden with all my senses. As time goes on, the gloves must be used as my fingernails begin shedding and the skin on my fingers feels like it has been drug over bricks.

Because of my early start this year, there were very few plants available but as I was leaving the nursery I looked over and saw the rack of seeds. Of course! Why wait for seedlings? I was reminded of gardening when the kids were little. My own gardening days started with seeds. Hoeing the rows and dropping in the seeds by hand was the beginning of a wonderful adventure. It is the drama of which ones will sprout first, the thinning and the blooms that become tomatoes and beans and berries. How did I lose my way and depend on someone else to sprout my seeds; something a child can do?

Being in the gardening mood, I read Seedfolks by Paul Fleishman, a tiny little middle school book about a "vacant" lot that becomes a community garden and how the lives of the gardeners are changed through the planting of seeds. In the author's notes, he tells his own gardening history. It occurred to me; do the kids today have a gardening history? Are there still moms out there planting seeds with their kids and eating fresh fruits and vegetables right out of the garden? Is anyone still creating those memories for them of the importance of growing things out of the dirt?

So this weekend, I will find time to plant some seeds. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, "I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders."