The best thing about gardening

'Sea of Red' Lettuce

The thing that I probably love most about gardening is this...

No matter what expectations I have when I walk out to the garden--especially now, when I'm looking for life, any sign of life... or worrying about all this rain... or did I do everything right this year? was I too ambitious?--is that it seems that good news is always there.

If only I would see it. It's up to me to look, look harder.

I may not see it for the first 20 minutes I'm outside, like the first green sliver of Sorrel I finally managed to spot right before coming inside. But it's out there. Tiny little soldiers, bearing the good news of Spring, of lengthening days, of life moving forward... and that nature knows what it's doing, if just given soil, water, sun and hope.

Because gardening is optimism.

Being a gardener who mostly starts plants from seed, and mostly edibles, around this time of year, I spend more than a bit of time in the garden just looking. Bent over, nose to the soil, looking. It's so amazing how easy it is to completely miss a microscopic, brave little forest of lettuce sprouts, but finding them is pure joy. Future delicious joy.

Baby Spinach

Future Blueberries

Brave Little Radish Sprout