‘tis the season!  It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Those sentiments often relate to the holidays, but for me they define springtime and the time to get started on my garden. Each year is a new plan in hopes of growing enough vegetables to preserve by canning. If that be the measurement, I am one for 20 over the last two decades. No matter, I love the planning, nurturing, and (limited) harvesting.

Growing stuff is in my blood, as it is for most people because at some point in almost everyone’s lineage, there were those who had to grow the food they ate and preserved. And for many, that work was more than just family sustenance but for income, too. Having a vegetable garden is a small way for me to, pardon the pun, get back to my roots in some ways. I have much respect for those who worked and tended acres compared to my 75 square feet. I do not have to spend the day behind a plow pulled by a flatulent donkey as my grandpa did, and for that I am grateful and have the utmost respect for him and the others whose long days were spent that way.

My mantra has always been “if I can’t eat it, I won’t grow it.” That changed last year when I grew magnolias as a companion plant to some vegetables. There are many good reasons to do so. I discovered another. I brought a few flowers into the house, put them in a small vase and set them out for my wife. She responded as if I had brought her a dozen roses; she loved them. Rarely was the vase without at least one flower for the rest of the season. I will now always have some sort of flower growing alongside my vegetable selection for the season.

This year, my efforts will focus on two varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, celery, beans, potatoes and whatever else catches my attention. I will build a new set of garden boxes as part of this season’s experiment. Every season is an experiment for me, growing my knowledge and understanding of “farming” while also growing tasty vegetables.

I love gardening and I hope to be able to do so for many years to come. I love the work involved, the knowledge gained, the time outdoors, the problems to be solved along the way and my wife’s smile when I bring in a flower or two. Indeed, it’s a wonderful time of the year and I love it.

This blog section is titled Philo, which is Greek for loving, as in love of: for example, philanthropy: love of people/humanity; philosophy: love of knowledge or wisdom. My writings for Philo examine “love of” many things — both subtle and sublime — that comprise life and living.

Check out my photographic project for the year, The Year of 70: Decades of Joy and Thanks.