Hi friends!
It's been a hot minute since I last posted. My eye is finally healing to the point where I can focus well enough to type. Never take the gift of your sight for granted!
As a part of my healing process, I had to spend 23 hours a day on my left side for two weeks. Not any easy task for me who itched to be finishing off the greenhouse build and putting plants in the ground.
What the experience did afford me was the opportunity to stop, reflect, plan my future gardening endeavours, and find joy in audiobooks. One book, in particular, has been both thought-provoking and inspiring. It's called"Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Kimmerer is an Anishinaabe botanist who explores and comes to understand the plant world through Indigenous wisdom and teachings. Her melodic voice and powerful stories speak to the scientist and gardener in me.
As an avid gardener, her stories have got me thinking about how I garden, harvest and create. Three guiding principles stand out: Take only what you need, never take more than 1/2, and always leave a gift in reciprocity.
As a square-foot gardener, I am always looking for ways to increase my yields in smaller spaces like my raised beds. I often harvest what I need, leave some things to go to seed (sometimes unintentionally like my chives, onions, and sometimes my spinach). I also try to give extra produce away to friends and family... especially those extra zucchinis! But what can I give back to the earth to make it richer and more abundant? Can I change how I plant and harvest to be more sustainable?
I really have enjoyed hearing and reflecting on Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the world-how everything is typically in balance in nature and we, through our farming and harvesting strategies , have not always respected the land we grow our food and flowers on.
One story, in particular, has got me itching to try. In “The Three Sisters,” Kimmerer shares the Indigenous practice of planting corn, beans, and squash together in a mutually symbiotic dance of efficient polycultural elegance. Throughout the story, she repeats the statement that because of these seeds, the people might “never go hungry again” (131). Essentially the corn grows first and provides a sturdy stalk for the bean to grow up. Because of the delay in germination, the corn has enough time to rise above the bean and not be overtaken by it. There is no competition for sun and air. The bean's roots, in turn, fix nitrogen to the soil-something squash need to thrive. When grown together, in this way, the yields of all three are high. They work together so all can thrive. This sounds like a lesson for humanity as well as gardening, doesn't it?
Typically, gardeners plant in clusters or groups, keeping some plants away from others and sometimes using companion planting methods to increase yields and keep pests away. I companion plant my strawberries and my onions because my strawberries do better with them close by. Studies have been done on the "Three Sisters" method comparing it to more traditional farming methods and yields are always higher with the Three Sisters methods.
This has me thinking of how I might restructure my garden next year to focus on companion and symbiotic pairings. Because of our terribly cold and wet Spring, there might even be an opportunity to do that this year given how far behind things are.
I am looking forward to finding joy in the little things and big things as the weather warms up. I've posted some of my first flowers and veggies of the year throughout this post because who doesn't love a little colour these days? The garden is ever-changing. As one type dies off, others are rising up to take it's place. Soon the veggies will catch up too.
Take time to wander your gardens, feel the earth in your fingers, smell the fragrances of mock orange and honeysuckle in the air, harvest a little, leave a little, and always find joy in the moment.
Stay healthy.
The Joyful Gardener
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