Put your hands in the dirt and give thanks.

Getting Down and Dirty

“There is no substitute for earthiness. From dust we came and to dust we shall return. The good news is that most of us get some good years in between, during which we may sink our hands in the dirt. This is as good a way as any to recover our connection to the ground of all being. Digging down is as good a way to God as rising up…”
Barbara Brown Taylor (An Altar in the World)

I have planted a small vegetable garden amongst the flowers along my sidewalk. I have lettuces and beets, peppers and tomatoes, sweet onions, herbs and sugar snap peas. Every day I go out with a watering bucket and evaluate their growth and greenness, while pouring water on the soil around them. I’m excited because it’s been a while since I’ve had a garden and getting my hands dirty is one of my favorite sports. Besides, there’s nothing quite like a vine ripened tomato to make you believe in a loving God. I have colorful cages around my six tomato plants and I’ve made net veils for them to keep the squirrels out. They look like wiry brides all in a row. Planting so early is probably a boon this year since the temperatures are already in the mid-eighties and by June will probably too hot for anything green or breathing.

I heard on the news yesterday that typically rainy England is experiencing water shortages; some aquifers there are at record lows. A friend told me that the Southeastern US is predicted to become a desert. Atlanta has had water usage controls in place for a number of years now, and Alabama has experienced six out of ten years of serious drought conditions. This part of the world has been desert before. Forty miles north of Birmingham, you can still find prickly pear and century plants growing along side the oaks and poplars and pines. Things change. We have to adjust.

I recommend growing some of your own food, for several reasons. First, because there is something holy about it that I can’t explain, but have always felt. Secondly, because it is good for you to eat fresh, locally grown, organic-if-possible food. Our grandparents knew this and planted gardens yearly. And lastly, because gardening is a life-skill that everyone should have. Even if you plant potatoes in a bucket, or simply open a bag of garden soil on a balcony and stick in a couple of tomato plants, you will take great pleasure in reaping what you’ve sewn. I guarantee it.

In the garden,
Jane