Day 125 Plowing/Gardening/Freaking Out

May 11, 2015
Day 125

To receive a Plant and Soil Science Degree from the University of Rhode Island is impressive. To be exact, Field Crops was the specification. However, someone else really should have this degree. I am a poser, a true poser. My flowers are impressive but my vegetable garden is, well, lacking. Where was I during those classes explaining the differences between raised and conventional beds or any of the other classes for that matter on interesting topics that would intrigue any foodie in the area? Where was I? I even worked at the Experimental Station for two summers slaving over beds of produce. I love the labor and yet the information did not take root.

Here is the deal, I am all in, in the spring. I just love being in the soil. And, I am all in throughout the growing season. I love to work in the garden. I love the heat. I love the sweat. I do kinda mind the allergy/sinus headaches that result but hey, a little aspirin here and there kicks out the pain. The weeding and the digging tills my mind. The thoughts, the new directions, the insights that come from a good dig in the soil are many and often productive.

Here is the problem. It's the harvest that gets me, or doesn't. I am so ashamed to say this, but, sometimes I don't even harvest. It has nothing to do with laziness, I love to work, it has everything to do with..........and that is what I am trying to figure out. I think it is pathetic. But I don't honestly know why I lose interest.

And what would keep that interest alive. In the winter I can taste the interest, in the spring I can smell it but at the end of summer I don't even have it. Am I cooking with enough intentionality, uniqueness and creativity that demands an abundance of red peppers, a goodly amount of tomatoes, onions, etc.  I am wondering if it boils down to my cooking which boils down to taste, taste, taste.

If you have any thoughts on this, any advice, please offer freely. I will weed out the bad and plant the good. I want to harvest and harvest well. I am going to have to dig deep in the recesses of my mind and go to the root of this problem. What happened in my childhood. Who planted this seed of indifference towards the harvest?

I really should weed out some of these corny puns!