Reaching out to the great un-gardened

Tulips from last year

We must be ready, at a moment’s notice, to reach out to the great un-gardened.

We must recognize when there is a spark of interest in gardening and growing plants in the great un-gardened so that we are ready with an idea or thought that will turn that spark into a burning desire to go outside and plant something.

We must be ready to lend a hand or a tool or a seed or a plant to the un-gardened, to garden it forward, so they, too, can become gardeners.

We must not be dismayed if the first seeds of interest in gardening fail to germinate.  We need to keep sowing, keep trying.  The great un-gardened need our help.

We must be ready.

I am ready when someone mentions to me that they are thinking about planting a vegetable garden.  I know, without a moment’s hesitation,what simple advice to give on how to plant a first vegetable garden in just a few hours. I know which vegetables are easy to grow and provide great harvests (zucchini!).

I am ready to share the secrets to happiness in the garden when someone mentions an interest in doing more in their garden than rowing up some shrubs in front of their house.

It’s March. Even the great un-gardened will look around as flowers begin to bloom about them and think, perhaps just for a minute, that they might enjoy a lovely garden, might find some benefit for their family, if not themselves, in growing a few vegetables.  We must recognize those minutes and be ready with advice and assurance that they, too, can become a gardener.

The great un-gardened. We must be ready to reach out to them, to help them, to share with them.

“There is health in the garden. But
because one has to dig for it, some persons prefer to keep on enjoying
their old miserableness day after day and year after year.” Eben E.
Rexford, 1916

As quoted in Your Brain on Nature by Eva M. Selhub, MD and Alan C. Logan, MD (John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., 2012)