The Season of Gratitude

This is my favorite time of year in the garden. The tucking of garlic cloves into the ground in October marks the end of crop planting for the year. The weeds and insect pests have slowed their assault, and the rains have resumed after the late-summer dry period, so the fall crops are thriving. The harvest of greens and root vegetables continues until the really cold weather sets in. The slower pace allows for reflection on the growing season and appreciation of all the beauty and bounty that the garden has given through the year.

My favorite way of expressing gratitude to the garden is planting cover crops. Fall-planted cover crops – usually a mix of grains and legumes – germinate and grow throughout the late fall and hold the soil in place through the winter. (Bare soil might be washed away by winter storms.) The cover crop plants also take up nitrogen, phosphorus, and other essential elements remaining in the soil, holding in reserve valuable nutrients which might otherwise leach away. Next spring and summer, I will mow the cover crops and till them in. They will act as a “green manure,” nourishing the soil and supplying nutrition for the crops that follow.

I plant cover crops in the most low-tech way possible, tossing out rye, wheat and winter peas by hand and chopping the soil with a metal rake to lightly cover the seeds. With the rhythmic motions of tossing and chopping, and with no noisy machinery to distract me, my mind naturally reflects on the previous inhabitants of the beds I'm working on – the planting (so long ago, it seems!), weeding, and harvesting of the vegetables that sustained me during the spring and summer. The hardships are mostly forgotten, and I'm grateful for the nourishment and the bounty that I was able to share with my community.

Thanks oosp!

Most of us in the U.S. think of Thanksgiving as a day to gather family together and eat a huge meal, not necessarily composed of foods produced by ourselves or our neighbors. But Thanksgiving is rooted in the celebration of a successful growing season and an abundant harvest. It comes at a time of year when cold temperatures, long nights, and quiet have replaced the frenetic activity of spring and summer. The conditions are perfect for introspection, reflecting on the months gone by, and thanking the powers that be and all the beings around us for all we've been given. And for resting . . . because planning for the next growing season will begin again in a few short months!