Soil & Fruit

Yesterday my mom showed up unannounced to coach me in the garden. She lives and breathes gardening, and is the only reason I've ever had nice gardens since moving out... 

My garden here at the farm isn't the most ideal spot to plant stuff, as it literally used to be a rock bed the trailer was parked on, but it's got 100% sun and I got a few things going last year so I just decided to go for it. I'm essentially working with rocky, weedy dirt.  It lacks the nutrients needed for things to grow optimally, but that's our mission this season, to slowly transform it. 

First mom had me dig trenches in the rock pile. Then she had me throw wood ash down, to help correct soil acidity. Triple mix manure and compost was next. Finally she had me lay straw between the rows so that once we plant things after the May long weekend I'll be able to walk between the rows. This was all after I'd already spent a couple sessions on my own picking out rocks and removing weeds the size of small trees. 

So far, gardening has been all work and no play, but I've seen the magic of hard work, so I show up!

All of this behind the scenes work required in preparation for eventual fruit, veggies, and flowers, made me think of the parallel to human life. My life. Your life. How often do we want the 'fruit' in life, without working on the soil of our hearts? How often do we expect benefits, without it costing us anything? We don't want to have the hard conversations, make hard moves, go to therapy, read the book, acquire new skills, kill the addiction, and change the habits that would shape and refine us for the better, so we keep on keepin' on in patterns (weeds) and programs (rocks) that do not move us towards our most fruitful life.

I happen to be in a season of serious soil refinement in my own life, because I want new fruit going forward. Sometimes it feels like I'm staying a little too long in the compost/manure layer, but I can handle it knowing the harvest is going to be out of this world. 

Don't despise the compost seasons of your life. The breakdown of all the rotten fruit is what enriches the soil that your new life and dreams will bloom and grow from.

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