Any given spring morning...
6:00am - What do I feed my dahlias today? When do they need to be pinched? How much water do sunflowers drink in a week? What is an F1 hybrid? Who is pH? Why do you apply lime? What is green manure and why will I love it? What is atrazine (and why should you avoid it?) What is deep ripping...discing...tilling...sewing seed? Does that sound dirty to anyone else? Will they grow? Will they look like me? How do I make this work with the day job (which I very much enjoy)? Is garlic the only way to fight off Japanese beetles? Does tomato blight bother zinnias? Where is my coffee? Why does Kiowa insist on peeing at 4 am and sleeping until noon? There has got to be a saint to whom this protestant can pray!
6:01 - Take a breath. Go outside. Look to what the garden offers today.
Nature, and her flowers (a faithful iris budding in the photo), know what they are doing. Treat them with a bit of reverence, step back, add water when necessary and watch them do their trick.
