Why We Dig Gardening

Enlarge Image Image Gallery The contest winners, Brandon and Miranda (above), plan to start an organic farm someday, and they surely will make good use of their prize.

Mother’s Garden Essay Contest prompted many responses — here are our favorites!

Our First Gardening Adventure 

There are many reasons that my boyfriend and I dig gardening. We are both 22 years old and started our first organic garden together this past summer. We grew on a plot of previously untouched land in Meding, Ohio. In order to be sure that we are eating the healthiest food (free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides) with the highest nutritional values, we knew we’d have to produce it ourselves. This allowed us to make a connection with our Mother Earth while being self-sufficient and living a naturally healthy lifestyle. We learned a lot about the art of composting, beneficial insects and organic fertilizers. This hands-on experience will aid us in pursuing our future as organic farmers.

We loved our gardening adventure because we were able to share our love for healthy, nutritious foods with our families and friends (and their families, too!). Our understanding continues to grow about the importance of taking from Mother Earth her beautiful gifts, but more importantly, returning to her an equal amount of love and care. With the proper care, knowledge and love, our plants bloomed to perfection. We love to garden and look forward to the ongoing give-and-take relationship we have with the Earth and each other. Our plans for a much larger vegetable, flower, mushroom and herb garden are coming together for 2006. We look forward to working together to produce healthy, nutritious foods and beautiful flowers for all to enjoy! We’ve learned what a little hard work and dedication can do, and that is what we dig about gardening!

Miranda Marcano and Brandon Pappas
Mansfield, Ohio

The Astounding Taste of Fresh Food 

What happened to me yesterday — awakening to find myself in a kitchen that smelled like my grandma’s — wasn’t something I’d counted on when I decided to subsidize our grocery bill with a garden. Before I knew it, I’d re-entered my childhood. I walked the lane to my garden day after day, planted, waited and replanted.

Finally my harvest began. I got a canner and began making tomato sauce, pickles and relish. I froze corn, peas and beans, and shelled lima beans for the first time since I was about 10. My kitchen smelled of strawberries, pickle brine, tomatoes, onions, peppers and cabbage.

In all of this activity, I found a kind of peace and wholeness that eluded me when I was making hurried dashes through the grocery store and reaching for clean, attractive produce that got “rained” on periodically from the sprinklers above the displays. In the busyness of driving to and from work, I’d gradually lost my enthusiasm for putting food on the table.

At first, my own garden produce was much less attractive than the kind I bought in town. It was amazing how much time I spent picking, scrubbing, peeling and otherwise preparing food. But I was completely astounded by the taste of fresh food, available day in and day out. Often I’d sit down to a meal and remark, “Everything we’re having tonight is from the garden.”