Thanks
- For T-shirts which in colder weather become undershirts.
- To small commercial farmers who work tirelessly to keep quality produce available at local venues.
- To the person in Nigeria who developed an edible-leaf coleus.
- For basil.
- For the way leafy matter decomposes nicely and contributes to soil friability.
- To winter squashes for being tasty and nutritious after weeks of sitting in a corner.
- To the person who for some reason dug up a turmeric rhizome and intuited it contained curcumin which is an anti-inflammatory, and now we know it, also.
- To happy clumps of garlic chives even when they are a nuisance.
- To spearmint that will spread until it becomes a nuisance. It’s my goal to regard this as a good thing.
- To downy wood mint that behaves, survives neglect, and deserves more respect; same for Greek mountain mint.
- To the folks 7000 years ago who came upon vinegar and to the folks who subsequently figured out pickles. I like pickles.
- To radishes for growing quickly, for being spicy and colorful, for their antioxidants and all that potassium. Yum. Simply plant a few seeds two or three times a month during the season, and radishes take it from there.
- To Rudolf Steiner for his pioneering advocacy of sustainable gardening practices, and to the Rodales and other publishers for continuing the sustainable organic message.
- For kale’s contribution to nutrition plus its stubbornness when cold weather hits.
- For the calming effect of cold weather on well-mulched soil… gardens need a rest too.
- For the protection mulch provides in winter for the underground community.
- To worms. Good work, worms.
- To our hunter-gather forbears who settled down for a while in Mesopotamia, domesticated grains that led to discovering beer and eventually bread, two good things. They also domesticated cucumbers, beans, garlic, grapes – more good things. They were folks like us who did that. What will be our contribution?
- For uncontaminated soil.
- For cosmos seeds that disburse in autumn, relax in soil all winter, sprout in new places every spring into plants whose flowers are the last bit of color to fade in autumn. I planted cosmos seeds one time a dozen years ago, and the garden has more plants than I need every summer. Pollinators like cosmos flowers.
- To purslane seeds that can hide in soil for years before sprouting (impressive) and producing surprisingly nutritious garden snacks we nibble on but we didn’t plant. They show up every summer, and I never planted them. Cool!
- For watermelons.
- For carrots in all their colors which gives us a chance to learn the word anthocyanin.
- For tomatoes in all their colors and shapes and crazy names… this year I grew Wooly Kate, Evil Olive, and Mushroom Basket tomatoes.
- To potatoes for being easy to grow, wholesome, historic, handsome, humble and hearty.
- To yard-long beans for being different.
- To mullein for showing up unannounced and soft and good for tea.
- For seed catalogs that entertain and educate us during winter.
- For all the gardeners who figured out what didn’t work and what did through thousands of years leaving it up to us to carry on.
- For the opportunity to be a gardener.