The Break That Wasn't...
For the last six months my family and I have been in a sort of stasis. A forced hiatus from everything in order to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually. Collectively we've endured loss of lives that felt like blows to our spiritual bodies, and then the largest battle yet of our lives to fight a feeling of helplessness when our eldest child almost succumbed to a stroke and aneurysm.
Recovery for our daughter and for us has come in many forms. This includes scaling down activities that we'd normally participate in to focus on more immediate things. For instance for me it's taking a break from the physical act of growing and documenting efforts to grow. Hence the large span between posts here, which in the broad scheme of things I am not at all sorry about. That being said, I am very thankful for the outcome of breaking from it all. Our child is on the mend and very blessed to have come out of this ordeal in the best ways possible. With time and hard work her life and ours is returning to a 'New Normal'.
I say 'new normal' because after declaring to the world and most especially those in my family and food justice circle that I would not lift a finger to grow anything this year, I've found that I'm having to back track on that verbal diarrhea just a bit. All it took for my change of heart was a walk through the hardware store for plumbing supplies. Spring hadn't arrived and there were asparagus crowns on sale along with horseradish [which I passed on and am now kicking myself over]. With some assistance from my lovely daughter and as part of her PT and OT we prepared a new perennial bed for the asparagus, 25 strawberry plants, and 8 rhubarb volunteers. The next week after recovery (soreness from unused muscles) I took a walk through the garden to assess our hard work and found that it wouldn't be too much trouble to sow some peas for the hubby. The next thing I know the energy to dissect the main 24x18 foot garden bed into four sections with wider paths and weed barriers [Yes to cardboard, newspapers, & wood chips] came upon us. After which we planted two types of peas and greens that were a couple years old and hoped for the best. It's been well over a month now and the peas are more than up and they are flowering and holding their own. In other words I did not trellis them at all 😉. Besides peas we've been busy finding volunteer lettuces, Daikon radish, Orach, Tomatoes, Walking onions, Sage, Sorrel, Tatzoi, Mizuna, and a Squash plant. These most welcomed guests have adjusted well to their move into new orderly spaces.
Through this process my loved ones and I have somehow found healing energy from growing together. Literally!! With these simple gifts despite the adversity of our lives this last year; life has found a way to continue its journey unattended, and without our permission. There is a lesson there! I feel that despite the toughest season in our lives, if we are willing, we can do more than we think we can. We don't need permission to stretch out our roots and reach for the sunlight. I realize we have what we need to succeed if we just start from where we are instead of waiting for the "perfect" foundation. The perfect foundation is more than likely right under our feet and if we're diligent the power(s) that be will make sure that we flourish and bear fruit.
Happy Planting and Growing!
Tina
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