Presenting My Gardening Workshop to the Queen

 I’ve got to tell you that I’m pretty pumped! I’m doing my “All You
Can Eat Gardening Workshop” for the Queen this weekend. Well at least
I’m doing it at “The Royal Botanical Gardens” in Hamilton/Burlington.
And since it’s “her” botanical gardens, I figure the odds are pretty
good she’ll be there. She’s notorious for her spontaneity, just dropping
in here and there without warning. She likes that whole low profile “oh
I’m really not that special,” no notification, security or entourage
kind of appearance.

I sure hope she’s there! It’ll be a huge let down if she’s not.
Michelle tells me that I shouldn’t hype these things up and set myself
up for disappointment. It’s like when I go to conferences – I’m always
hyped about the danishes. You know, the cherry ones with the icing. And
the coffee! Even though most of the conferences that I attend don’t have
danishes, I continue to look forward to them and set myself up for a
let down.

I’m hyped about my gardening workshop because of my breakfast today. I
had fruit and granola. And here it goes – I had strawberries. Fresh
strawberries. And yes, I’m writing this in April in Ontario and there
are no local strawberries at this time of year. I have not had fresh
strawberries since last summer. But this week I was shopping and saw
some strawberries that looked really good. Usually the strawberries that
are shipped here from Florida or California look great but they are
lacking in taste. Well these ones weren’t too bad. In fact, they were
pretty good. Not as good as local ones in season, but still pretty good.
I think it was because they had been sitting in the store for a while
long enough to ripen a bit. They looked pretty ripe when I bought them,
and in fact, I felt sorry for them and so I bought them. I was afraid
that they were going to be tossed in the garbage and wasted. That’s my
rationalization. People who try to eat “green” are experts at
rationalization. “Well I need those organic shade grown coffee grounds
for my blueberry plants, I might as well drink the coffee first and
enjoy them.”

So as I was cutting up the strawberries I was really in awe of the
miracle that allows me to eat a Florida strawberry in April. The fact
that even on my income I can afford this. And the fact that we have the
means (refrigerated diesel trucks) to get them to Ontario in time for me
to eat them before they go bad boggles my mind. And the fact that
farmers have figured out how to grow them to get them here in such good
shape is beyond me. Oh, I’m sure they have lots of heavy duty “…cides”
on them for them to look so great, and I probably shouldn’t be eating
them based on that. But the last time I checked “fruits and vegetables”
were a pretty big part of the food chart of stuff you’re supposed to
eat. So as much as I try and eat organic, if I had to stay away from all
conventionally-grown produce I’d be left with just Mars Bars and Oreo
cookies to eat, and I don’t think they have their own food group or are
organic.

As I was cutting that strawberry up I have to say I had a little
moment when I felt a connection with the farmer that grew it. They put
an enormous amount of effort into growing this beautiful piece of fruit.
Time, and money, and sweat, and incredible wisdom and knowledge went
into producing this treat for me. I was very grateful to that farmer.
And very grateful to the person who picked and packed it.

As I was thinking about the work that had gone into producing the
strawberries, I was thinking, you know, I have more of a connection to
this farmer than most people. I grow food too. And I pull wagons full of
beautiful produce out of my garden every summer. At the end of each of
my gardening workshops I show photos of some of the things that I’ve
grown – broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes. I tell my audience ” I can’t
paint, and I can’t draw, and I can’t sculpt, but I think that
everything that comes out of my garden is art. Everything I grow is a
work of art. It’s a little miracle.”