Garden Mine: Taking Time

Everyone’s heard of the teachable moment – the time when we’re primed to truly understand something important, like if you’re drunk friend insists on driving, and you’re stupid enough to get in the car with them, you may end up in a rollover, so don’t do that.

I have found over the years that there’s also the plantable moment. The time when getting something in the ground has to happen, like, right now. Last year I learned the hard way that external concerns don’t supersede prime planting time. As a first year doc student, I had to pass both written and oral preliminary exams that would determine if I could continue in my program. For the month of April, I pretty much did nothing but schoolwork. Looking out at my garden, realizing things were falling by the wayside was painful.

Nature said, “Yea, so what? I’m not waiting around,” and did its own thing. I felt myself playing catch up the entire summer. So this spring semester I decided my full load plus independent research could share time with the garden, and I’m oh so happy for it. And, believe it or not, the classes and papers got finished and the garden’s on schedule. Imagine that.

Part of what has struck me this year is that I’m paying more attention. When I’m at work or focused on writing, that’s what I’m doing, and when I’m in the garden, I don’t think about the schoolwork. If my kids need help with something, I’m all about that. It’s not about being in Zen or anything like that, it’s about survival. I can’t do schoolwork when I’m in the garden, so I have to let it go. Worrying about it doesn’t help get garden tasks done, and besides, that kind of energy doesn't belong around vibrant growing entities.

So when I see something like this, it’s time to do something about it.