A Bit of Earth

I am not a green thumb. It's not that I can't get things to grow, it's that I have always been too intimidated to try. I have a mentally crippling fear of failure, so embarking on a quest that doesn't have guaranteed results is pretty difficult for me. But for years now, and I'm not sure why, I have been itching to grow my own vegetables. Two years ago in our old house, I planted a few things in our backyard: tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, and peas. Only the tomatoes and cucumbers grew, but we all loved running out to the vegetable patch to see what there was to pick. The following year, gardening fell by the wayside as we prepared our house to put on the market. But I knew our new house would have a vegetable patch. I was determined.

Our new backyard has a downward slope in the back, so we hemmed and hawed about how to set up a garden as the weather started to get nicer. But the warmer the temperature rose, the more nervous I got about the whole thing. What if nothing grows? What if I'm a failure at gardening? I read blog posts for beginning gardeners, checked out books from the library, determined to do this thing right. But inevitably I found myself shutting off the computer or slamming the book, more overwhelmed than I had been before. Soil PH and composition? What am I getting myself into? No matter that all of my gardening friends and family kept telling me just to DO IT. I was convinced I was going to do it all wrong.

I found myself starting to give up on the whole idea before even putting a single seed in the ground. So I got proactive. I figured the more I talked about it, the more it would have to happen or I would risk disappointing my kids. Paul and I decided on raised garden beds, and I began to plan with the kids what vegetables we would grow. We did some garden-related art projects. Paul built the garden beds with leftover wood that was given to us, and they look great! We chose The Secret Garden as our new bedtime read-aloud.

As I'm sure you know, The Secret Garden is about a contrary little girl named Mary who doesn't find joy in anything. She goes to live with her uncle and discovers a garden that has been untouched for a decade. She goes to work on this "bit of earth", and her heart begins to soften, she discovers joy and learns how to love. Oh, it is so beautiful! As our read-aloud was progressing, the weather outside kept getting nicer and nicer. Today was the day we filled the first box with soil and planted our vegetables. We were outside getting dirty and digging holes, and the kids each got to plant the vegetable of their choosing. I planted Impatiens in the flower bed by the front door and herbs in the small planters on our deck. I have never been so excited about getting my hands dirty! Suddenly I no longer care if nothing comes up. I think it will, but the experience of planting together was so fun and joyful that it was a gift in itself.

We came inside, got cleaned up and said prayers, then Paul opened up the book and read the title of the next chapter. "It Is Here!" On the day that we planted our garden, we got to read about the arrival of spring at Misselthwaite Manor. I feel so much like Mary Lennox today. I have been a little contrary myself lately, and I've had some trouble finding joy. My temper has been shorter than I want it to be, and my patience reserves seem to be running pretty dry. But today, working next to my husband and kids in the dirt, I felt so alive and excited! There is something magical about putting a dry, shriveled seed into the ground and expecting it to turn into something green and alive!

I don't know how much, if anything, will actually grow. But the prospect of having a family goal that draws us all together outside has put me in great spirits! I can't wait to see what comes of our little bit of earth.