January 2017 has arrived and it is time to plan my garden. It snowed last night and I am so excited to be thinking that Spring is that much closer now it has snowed! I really enjoy looking through seed catalogues. The variety of vegetables and fruits to be grown is overwhelming and reassuring that so much interesting and healthy food is available to us if we are willing to listen and learn from Mother Earth. Start by ordering seed catalogues from companies you trust to have non-GMO, organic seed. Check out this list for some resources.
Whether you are just a beginner at gardening or an experienced gardener, I have some suggestions to help you be successful with your garden. Start small. Grow what you know you can take care of. As stewards of Mother Earth, I find it a good practice to have no more than I can take care of with the time and resources I have available to me. This rule applies to all “possessions”. Grow what you really eat and love to eat. Figure out what you really like to eat and if it can be grown in your area (climate zone) and if you eat a lot of it and love it, then grow it. Plants like to know we appreciate what they produce and a garden is a place where we get to practice the ritual of gratitude by sowing seeds, growing and cultivating, harvesting, storing the garden’s abundance and starting the cycle of gratitude, sharing and wonder, over and over again. Share the extra food you grow with family, friends and neighbors. Grow a garden and grow a community by sharing the abundance.
Be grateful for the abundance Mother Earth provides. True gratitude feeds the elementals, the surrounding environment, your garden, and your community, and Mother Earth. Remember to practice gratitude with every breath you take. Enjoy the taste of fresh, “alive” nourishment your good effort and your garden provides for you and your family. Harvest your food, prepare your food, share your food, store your food, and nourish yourself with the joy of knowing where your food was grown and how healthy it is for your body. Grow your own food and you will taste the difference and your body will know the difference of fresh nutrient rich satisfying food.