A good harvest and a broken promise
Published: Fri, 03/29/19
My study windowsill is covered with a collection of seed trays and small plant pots. So is our kitchen windowsill. There are about a dozen rocket seedlings growing nicely, eight courgette plants which looking towards the sunlight and almost seem to be longing to get out into the garden. A variety of other vegetables are just beginning to germinate.
In the garden itself I have also added three more vegetable beds to the large one I prepared last year. Two are ready to plant into, the third will need some more hard hard work today to get the soil ready. The original bed still needs digging over but I have been holding back until the daffodils are finished. I made a reasonable start with vegetable gardening here last year although results were limited. There was not that much space and, as you may remember, the weather was very dry for several months. We did however eat our own courgettes, runner beans and beetroots. I even had one tomato plant that did surprisingly well. I plan to do a lot better this year.
The rune poem for Ar comes to mind at this stage of preparing a vegetable garden.
(ár) es gumna góði,
getk at orr vas Fróði.
Which can be translated as:
‘A good harvest is the profit of men;
I say the lord has been generous.’
A good harvest is a great thing and that is what I will be looking forward to later in the year. But the harvest only comes if we work with the timing of the seasons, not much happens if you plant too early or too late. There is quite a lot of hard work involved in preparing the ground, acquiring good quality seeds and germinating them successfully, planting out and then caring for the growing plants until it is time to harvest. Some thought and planning about what you actually want to grow and why, goes a long way towards creating a successful vegetable garden too. All these factors are under your control to a large degree. However, there is still that mysterious element of growth itself which is in the hands of something we can never fully understand. I know that science can tell us a great deal about biology and genetics. This knowledge can be very helpful in making horticulture more successful. But there is no explanation
for how or why the code of life got written in the first place. Yes, I know we are told that science will have all the answers one day but I am not holding my breath.
Horticulture has many benefits for us. The obvious one is growing food to eat. Gardening also means fresh air and exercise, which is good for us too. Small scale and careful farming works with nature and protects the environment too.
I find the process of growth and decay in tune with the turning of the seasons very reassuring in another way too. It is easy to get depressed and even afraid at the state of the world. For the UK today is a day of broken promises. Yes, I am talking about Brexit and for two years we were told that today would be the day the UK left the EU. Whether you wanted Brexit or not both of our main political parties put in their manifestos that the Brexit vote would be honoured. Well, it has not been. It might still happen after a delay but it may not. As I wrote before, I predicted this situation, so I am not surprised. I am still disappointed that a significant majority those who are elected to be ‘honorable members’ of our parliament can’t manage to keep a simple promise.
What is reassuring is that the sun rose right on time this morning and will set at its appointed moment this evening too. Spring has followed winter again and is unlikely to fail us next year. I don’t know exactly how my harvest will work out this year but I will do my share and will trust in the promise in the rune poem for the rest.
Human beings are flawed and we let each other down too often. The universe itself reflects a much greater intelligence than we humans ever seem to demonstrate. We are easily influenced by the childish machinations of other people and that path leads eventually to despair. Or we can consider the workings of the universe and learn from the daily and yearly miracles we observe all around us. We all have our limitations but we can choose our teachers and that is the route to wisdom.
regards
Graham
PS I have organised the Runes and Trees Retreat as an opportunity to discover what we can learn about, and from, the natural world. The event was full but someone has dropped out for unavoidable reasons. So, I am prepared to let her place go for the pre-deadline price of £150 for the three days. It will be a chance to see how the runes, stances, trees and the Orlog can work together to develop our understanding of Stav. While we are there I will ask our host, Henry Crawley to show us round his vegetable garden. Henry is a master gardener so prepare to be impressed. Details at http://rr.stavcamp.org/ but contact me directly to pay at the appropriate price.