Learning to Love Maintenance
I have always viewed weeding as just another of lifes icky but necessary facets, like routine medical exams and flossing, chat we do because we must. Weeding the garden is CO be done as quickly as possible, as frequently as absolutely necessary and avoided if any rational way to do so presents itself Tliis slapdash approach keeps enough weeds from the garden that I get a few herbs and veggies to call my own. But it never gives me a garden Vd want Dad to see.
Hes been gone for decades now, but I still can see Dad s garden in my minds eye. Every summer, half our large back}^ard was given over to the garden and from early March until late October, it seemed Dads every waking moment not spent at his job was spent in his garden. (This all changed when I was in high school and we got him his first set of golf clubs. Tlien a few tomato plants were plenty of garden, thank you ver}^ much.) But I realized clearly while reading this issue was that all that time in the garden wasnt a burden for Dad. It wasnt necessarily a pleasure—that came later with the platters full of sliced tomato, chives for our baked potatoes, onions and okra and blackeyed peas, and even the mint for our sweet tea. But his time there, scraping, digging, pulling and rearranging, was more like meditation.
This became clear as I edited the article on weeding by Tammi Hartung (Page 54), from her recently released book, Homegrown Herbs: A Complete Guide to Growings Using, and Enjoying More than 100 Herbs (Storey Publishing, 2011), in which she refers to this time in the garden as loving maintenance. Dad was a loving-maintenance kind of guy and its easy to see that influence, not only in the garden, but in the daily lives of our family as well. In looking at our political, social and economic landscape these days, what might make a difference is a lot more of the sensibility Tammi describes and Dad demonstrated: Just do the work. Use the right tools. Stop resisting it and dig in. We hope you 11 find plenty to inspire you in this issue. From Linda Whites informative article on bone health, accompanied by Letitia Stars as-always delicious recipes, to Caleb Melchior's thyme-ly article and recipes on Page 30 and Thomas Walshs herbal tour of Peru, the issue is packed with possibility and ideas aplenty. My newfound appreciation for garden labor notwithstanding, one of the articles that most caught my eye was Kathleen Hallorans garden plans for "The Easiest Garden Ever" (Page 61). That's my kind of gardening.
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