"We spend our lives hurrying away from the real,
as though it were deadly to us,
'It must be up there somewhere on the horizon,' we think.
And all the time it is in the soil, right beneath our feet."
-- William Bryant Logan, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth
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| Pepper plant 5-19-14 |
"Seeds have the power to preserve species,
to enhance cultural as well as genetic diversity,
to counter economic monopoly
and to check the advance of conformity
on all its many fronts."
-- Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education
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| Cauliflower plant 5-19-14 |
"Gardening is cheaper than therapy, and you get tomatoes."
-- Unknown
My little vegetable garden is finally planted.
For the moment, it looks all neat and tidy and organized standing at attention in orderly, labeled rows in the dark, fertile, weed-free soil.
I know it's just a matter of time before the zucchini are sprawling lasciviously all over the cauliflower and I won't be able to tell where the tomatoes end and the peppers begin. Soon, weeds will sprout up and try to wreck all my hard work and I'll be back out there, ripping them out by the roots.
But for now, everyone is behaving.
I love looking at my garden. Several times a day I find myself at the back patio door staring out at how promising and hopeful it looks. It makes me feel good. And also a little bad ass.
Pretty soon, I'll have all the free, fresh veggies I can eat. And stocking the freezer with homemade tomato sauce made with tomatoes and peppers and basil that I grew myself may sound super domestic and homey and old-timey. But it's not.
It's non-conformist. It's insurrection. It's revolution.
I feel like a little rebel every time I pick a zucchini, or a head of broccoli, and bring those little fuckers straight into the kitchen and cook that delicious, fresh shit up for my family. It's like a "fuck you" to the overpriced grocery store chains and retailers and pollution-belching trucks and canned vegetable makers.
Fresh veggies are good for you.
Be a bad ass.
Grow some.
