At the beginning of February, I saw the intrepid green shoots of early (early!) something coming up. Days later – we were covered in 2 feet of fluffy snow. It’s been great for sledding and skiing – and it looks pretty – but I am ready for some warmth and greenery – especially because the seed catalogs are out. My two favorites – Seed Savers and horizon herbs are thoroughly marked up and dog-eared. Now and again as the wind rattles my windows and I feel that blast of cold at my ankles, I’ll think of how the nasturtiums might sway in the wind, or how crunchy and earthy the carrots might be as I try one fresh from the garden. This time of year for me as a DC transplant to New England is always somewhat fraught as my internal clock says – daffodils and crocus should be coming up – but we’re left with a good few months of iffy weather. Alas, at least the seed orders are in and all I can really do is plan, wait, read and dream.
Here’s an excerpt from a standby – the Wild Braid by Stanley Kunitz –
I think of gardening as an extension of one’s own being, something as deeply personal and intimate as writing a poem. The difference is that the garden is alive and it is created to endure just the way a human being comes into the world and lives, suffers enjoys and is mortal…..The garden is in a sense, the cosmos in miniature, a condensation of the world that is open to your senses. It doesn’t end at the limits of your own parcel of land, or your own state, or your own nation. Every cultivated plot of ground is symbolic of the surprises and ramifications of life itself in all its varied forms, including the human.
