While I may not think of gardening as being a political statement, clearly some people do. (see last week's article!) That's an interesting analytical approach. I prefer to think of gardening as a process. This in the sense that we as gardeners take what nature provides us and then attempt to manipulate it over time to suit our tastes and needs as best we can. Time is important here because a garden is not a static thing.
This week I have been watching the sunflowers mysteriously wiggle at random. At least, they appeared to wiggle randomly even when nothing around them was moving. Until I looked more closely. Can you guess?
This need to impose our will, however benign, is what makes us into gardeners as opposed to mere observers of the world around us. As gardeners, we may attempt to control or direct or facilitate assorted natural processes such as growth (planting seeds or weeding) and decay (mulching or composting) and we certainly learn from our experiences (successes or failures).
I didn't look hard enough. Once I realized what it was, I laughed out loud. At myself, at them, at the seasons.
We are often humbled in the garden. We realize we can not hope to control or direct some of the variables we encounter. Weather is an example of the uncontrollable. It might rain today, it might not. It might freeze tonight, it might not. While we may be aware of the general odds for our region, we can't change the outcome. So part of gardening is a reactive process. In the garden some things can wait, and some can not. (Run for the hose! Run for the Remay!)
Some folks might run for netting at this point, but I am happy to let things continue on.
Fact is, Mother Nature is unbeatable. General climate is a good example of this. If you live in Florida, you can't grow cool season crops in July. If you live in Alaska, no furnace on earth could warm your back yard garden plot to a steady 84 degrees Fahrenheit. You might get lucky and find a microclimate to extend your growing season by ten days a year, or perhaps build a hoop house. So would that be proactive or reactive? Either way, I'd certainly call it manipulative.
It's fall and the days are getting shorter. I like to enjoy the bits of sunshine as I find them!
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