The Flossie Chronicles:  When does your garden year start?

Cathy Koos Breazeal

Gardening has been on my mind a lot with the passing of my 91-year-old father this week.  For the first time in 63 years, there is no garden on the family homestead in Pennsylvania.   

Started in 1950 when Mom and Dad moved there after the war, they built the garden and orchard at the same time they built the house and barn.  Both being children of the Great Depression and survivors of World War II, they knew the value of a backyard garden.  I was an adult keeping my own house before I actually ate vegetables from the grocery store or used commercial pasta sauce. 

The garden behind the house waxed and waned with the family needs, but this year there is not even a tomato in a pot on the porch.   After we kids left home, the garden actually expanded in size and Mom and Dad shared the wealth with friends in need.  The end of an era came in May when my son helped take down the garden fence and reopen the land to the local wildlife.

Last year’s garden was a monumental effort by all the members back home – plowing, prepping, planting, weeding, watering.  When the weather turned dry and drought appeared, there was a huge and lively discussion amongst the siblings about the emotional need for a garden versus the impact on the water bill.  My family can carry on some quite lively discussions, even via email!

So when does the gardening year start?  With the arrival of the first seed catalogs?  I shared my bet with Mom and Dad each year – what would come first – seed catalogs or the federal tax booklets?

Perhaps it is the beginning of the year when you start the first tomato seed on the window sill?  Or maybe the garden year starts when the first row is turned over and the first pea seed is dropped in the crisp spring air?  Or perhaps the new garden year starts day after the last jar of applesauce is placed on the pantry shelf. 

Maybe there isn’t really a “garden year” but more like a garden era.  While the era of Mom and Dad’s garden has likely ended, I see new eras beginning with the grandchildren.  Next to photos of Dad in the garden, my niece and her husband proudly placed the first produce of their garden on the display table at Dad’s memorial service on Friday.  My son and his fiancé started their first garden this year and have harvested blueberries already. 

Garden year or garden era, tilling the soil feeds the body and the soul.  Oh yes, Mom does have a small “chair garden” next to the back porch this year.