The Unexpected

Prudy's Japanese Maple survived the transplant

The Northwest is suffering from a serious lack of rain... record level for some parts of Oregon. The other day I was down in one of the gardens to find the clay ground already cracking. Thankfully the ground isn't cement-hard like it gets in the summer. However, I'm late in getting the taters into the ground- the unexpected weather has put me behind in the planting.

Over the years I've been slowly putting in drip irrigation and trying different things. This year it is full tilt boogie in getting it installed... though with this weather I'm not quite finished with the timers, etc.

It is always a question about how much money to put into our gardens. When it comes down to it, I'm a practical guy- how much do I put into the garden and how much does it cost to buy it. There is a quality of food that comes with being able to eat directly from the garden- nutrient retention. I also think there is an energy linkage between the soil and earth that we live on and the harvest. The aesthetic part of me likes to put my hands in the soil, to design beauty into the place I live, and to give food away to people.

Prudy's Irises mdae it too.

It was a year ago that we had Prudy's service- my mother-in-law. She loved the flowers that came up in the spring.  Then unexpectedly, she died. She will be with us through the plants in the garden.

I think how we deal with the unexpected is a mark of our character. The land, climate, soil, rabbits, deer, turkeys, rainfall... they all inform ourselves about where we are in our own personal evolution. Are we moving through our own self-centeredness, irritations and toward accepting the ebbs and flows of life? It is something I ask myself regularly.  The evolution isn't toward perfection, but through balancing the pushing of life and accepting things as they are.