Cape Gooseberries, Feijoas, Bananas and More from the Garden April 2009
To reach our beach we need only walk along a footpath between two neighbouring houses. These neighbours have turned this public esplanade into a garden of beauty.
At the end of many early morning walks I return to the garden with handfuls of seaweed, mostly kelp that has washed in with a north easterly swell; a gift from the sea. After a storm I may fill several 30 litre bags with seaweed. This then sits covered in the compost area until I have a place to dig it into the garden.
When we first arrived here more than three years ago, the clay soil was heavy when wet, and it dried out and cracked quickly in the hot summer sun. Now, after four years of added seaweed, compost, grass clippings and mulched leaves and twigs, the soil is loose, friable and holds water well without getting sticky.
I allow many of my favourite greens to go to seed – summer and winter lettuces, kale, orach, fat hen, chickweed, amaranth, bok choy, etc. Much of the garden is a year round self sown mesclun mix. Lucia and I eat salad every day of the year from this wild, rich, tender and tasty mix of greens. In addition there are often surprise self sown plants popping up in the garden – tomatoes, passionfruit, alpine strawberries, pineapple guavas….The list goes on and on.
You give nutrients and love to the soil and plants, and they give so much back. One feels incredibly grateful for the freely given abundance of nature.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God’s heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.
Dorothy Gurney 1858 – 1952
John Haines is the author of In Search of Simplicity: A True Story that Changes Lives, a startlingly poignant and inspiring real-life endorsement of the power of thought, belief and synchronicity in one’s life.
Click Below to:
Subscribe to In Search of Simplicity by Email
Your information will not be rented or sold, ever.
November 24, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hi John. Here’s a different kind of “cultivating gratitude” story for you. I have to say…I shamelessly cribbed it from my own blog (& book)…but it’s real and true, so that may get me forgiven. Here it is.
Some years ago, one of my best friends came down with inoperable and terminal cancer. I met John in highschool, and we stumbled through college together, double dating and studying and kibitzing with the best of ‘em. As best man at his wedding later, I was privileged to be there at the beginning of his family life, and watched his children grow over the years.
To say the least, we were good buddies. When John was diagnosed with this terrible disease, I was stunned into a state of shock I’ve never really gotten over. John had an awful time with the illness as well. At one point he had to have emergency surgery for a bowel ruptured by the cancer. It was after this heart-rending episode that John gave me a powerful gift I didn’t grasp at the time. But to appreciate the story, you have to understand something first. John had always been a real “worry wart”. He’d agonize over exams for example, although he always aced them. Trials on the horizon of his life would send him into a nervous state. It’s fair to say that John didn’t much appreciate life’s tribulations.
Now let’s return to John’s hospital bed after the emergency surgery I mentioned. I’d arrived very early the next morning to visit and give his wife a break from 24-7 caring. It was just John and I alone in that room, being quiet together. Suddenly John spoke up and said something I’ve never forgotten. “Botcha” he said (means buddy) and then paused for a moment. “If I could exchange this cancer for a million exams and tough times, I’d love the heck out of every single difficult one of them”. It didn’t really dawn on me immediately what he was saying. But now I know for sure.
John meant this. You and I should be truly grateful for all things in our lives….. including the challenges and trials thrown at us. Why? Because they are Life and each and every part of life is better than death. Sadly, I was close enough to John in the last days of his life to really feel what he was saying. And later I really understood the lesson. Today when rough things show up I pretend momentarily I have cancer like John. Then I say to myself….”If I could wave a magic wand and make my cancer disappear, I’d be grateful even for life’s difficulties”. In my case my imaginary cancer disappears….and I’m filled with gratitude for each part of my life…however hard it may be. Perhaps you can let John give you this gift too.
Cheers. John Duffield
November 24, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Thank you John. This is a beautiful story you relate so well. And, it’s a clear reminder to take nothing and no one for granted. Thanks again. I am grateful for your contribution and I’m sure others will be too.
Blessings,
John