Gardening

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. (Cicero)

My Garden

• garlic
• tomatoes
• kale
• jalapeños
• mint
• catmint (makes an excellent tea!)
• basil
• thyme
• sage

Tempo

Vegetable planting schedules by zone, including my Zone 6:

Further Learning

• The benefits of and a guide to deep-mulch gardening
• The Weedy Garden, an engaging, informative video series by someone starting a permaculture garden in Australia.
• 200 Years of Great Writers and Artists on the Creative and Spiritual Rewards of Gardening, a collection of intersections between literature and gardening by Maria Popova.

“One must cultivate one’s own garden” —Voltaire

The quote comes from Voltaire’s Candide, a satire against optimism.

“I have only twenty acres,” replied the old man; “I and my children cultivate them; and our labour preserves us from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.” Candide, on his way home, reflected deeply on what the old man had said. “This honest Turk,” he said to Pangloss and Martin, “seems to be in a far better place than kings…. I also know,” said Candide, “that we must cultivate our garden.”

As The School of Life sums up:

Gardening is no trivial pastime, it’s a central way of shielding ourselves from the influence of the chaotic, dangerous world beyond while focusing our energies on something that can reflect the goodness and grace we long for.