Lessons from my neglected garden.

My friend Nina and I share a garden. Nina's crops thrive under her constant care, daily observations and gentle watering. My portion survives my constant neglect. I have no good excuse for not attending to the garden. I have to walk through it to get to my front door, so distance is not a factor. 

Partly my neglect is due to drought. Living in Southern California I feel guilty every time I water my crops, so these vegetables have become an experiment in survival of the fittest. Partly it is due to ignorance. Once I have watered, I have no idea what else I am suppose to do. I see Nina out there bending over each plant, examining it, taking bits off, propping other portions up. I'm not sure what she is doing. Sometimes I go out and talk to her when she is doing her rounds, but I still can't quite figure out what is going on.

I love having a garden though. The beauty of it's bounty fills me with joy. Picking lettuce, tomatoes and herbs for salads only moments before they will be eaten never ceases to delight me. Harvesting butternut squash and collard greens to go with dinner feels like a miracle every time.

What amazes me most about the garden though, is how generous and forgiving it is. I can practically ignore it for the better part of a week, but when I want to eat from it, as long as I've planted the seed and watered it from time to time, it's ready to supply me with my gastronomic desires. And when I totally ignore a plant for too long it does the most incredible thing. It bolts, flowers, and produces thousands of seeds, giving me the chance to start all over again.

I can learn a lot about being more resilient, more generous and more giving from my garden.

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