The rain moved in early this morning. I'd planned to do yoga on the deck while the coffee brewed, but as I twisted the lock on the garden door, I could see raindrops beginning to dot the deck. Leaning my forehead against the cool glass, I watched for a long while.
I backed into the living room, turned on a Calm Radio station on Pandora, laid my mat on the floor, and started my practice with slow gentle breaths.
Opening the door to let in the scent of fresh rain seemed like a good idea. It's been dry here, but we set record low temps this week. It's been like autumn. Even the light looked unsummerlike.
By the time I eased through all the poses, I felt taller.
After coffee, I stepped down to tend the chickens, and when I finished that, a trip through the garden seemed in order.
It didn't take long to find a ripe tomato as large as a softball. One look down the rows and it was obvious I'd need a container.
Stepping back inside, I fetched a straw basket that we've had for as long as I can remember, and headed back to harvest. There were tomatoes, pepper, squash, and okra.
If I'd put a pencil to paper, that first tomato would probably have cost $120 due all the time, tools and supplies needed to grow it. But the cost-per-fruit is now plummeting.
Here's the thing: it would probably be more economical to buy the vegetables than to grow them, but there's more to a garden than economics.
There's the exercise, the mental workout in planning, scheduling, calculating, and evaluating. There is also other factors like the feeling of oneness that comes when you have your hands in the soil. That's not to mention the Zen-like experience you feel when you get close to nature.
The value of eating that first homegrown (your home) tomato on toasted bread, with a thin coat of mayo on both slices, has never adequately been calculated. Even supercomputers can't handle equations that complex.
I know country living isn't for everyone, but it suits me.
I enjoy our garden as well, but this year, we've had so many cool days, the gardens seem stalled. The kale loves the cooler temperatures, as does the lettuce, but the tomatoes are slow in coming and so is my basil. Peppers and onions are doing okay...oh well, you never know with our weather lately!
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ReplyDeleteSherry and I love Yoga, but can only practice regularly if there is a class. Naturally traveling there had been no class for years. I do one or two positions after doing my 'plank', and that is all.
ReplyDeleteTonight, I was tired and was going to wait until tomorrow and saw your tomatoes. Great harvest and worth every penny and ounce of effort. One day we will garden again, but until then we will try to find fresh veggies (honest ones) at the side of the road.
One day I will check my spelling before hitting the "POST".
I've said this before and I'll say it again. When you grow your own vegetables you know where they come from and how they were grown. Very important!
ReplyDeleteMs Soup
There is no comparison in taste for a vine ripen tomato to those rubbery tomatoes we buy in grocery stores. The flavour alone is priceless. This year I grew some tomatoes in crates lined with recycled landscape fabric to hold the soil. I planted the seed, and took care of the seedlings and now they are loaded with green tomatoes. It won't be long before I get red tomatoes providing that I remember to water them.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the fruit of your labor.
JB