A Garden for Gathering: A Reflection

Looking back over this last year's garden, and how it has led me to create a garden I want to host in

I wander out to the garden, basket in hand, excited to see what is ready to harvest. I open the gate and tuck into the oasis. Nasturtiums tumble from the beds, edging the path with bright red blooms. Giant squash leaves dance in the breeze, a vibrant yellow patty pan peeks out beneath the green. Swiss chard stand tall, flanking the tomatoes, in intense neon hues. My favorite corner is where the dill blossoms sway over the lush and full cabbage patch, filling the air with a rich aromatic sent. I walk the narrow path to the squash arch, beautiful butternuts hang from above, creating a shady place to rest. How I love it here.

Last year, I actually didn’t have high hopes for the garden. We inherited a garden that I thought we would just tear down and start fresh somewhere else. As we began to map out plans, we began to quickly realize that starting from scratch was an expensive endeavor - the cost of lumber and equipment rental pushed us beyond what we wanted to spend the first year in a new home. I resigned to make the best of the ramshackle space I had been left, a little apprehensively if I am being honest.

Looking back, I could not be more grateful that we started with this existing space. In the garden clean up we discovered a full patch off strawberries, two well established asparagus patches, and three blueberry bushes! It felt a bit like the secret garden, peeling back the waste and dead grass to reveal a hidden gem.

After adding a new fence, fresh mulch and new dirt to the beds, It cleaned up well. I then added a cattle panel pumpkin trellis to divide the blueberry patch from the rest of the garden, repurposed an old floral trellis for the entrance and added a new gate and it was feeling like something really special. I mapped out an approachable garden plan for our first go in this space, and loved seeing what we were able to grow. We did discover a vole problem, and lost several onions, beets, and all of my peas to them, but much of the garden they left untouched.

The joy I didn’t fully expect this summer was gathering in the garden.

My gardens in the past were tucked into the corner of the yard, not something that surrounded our enclosed you in, but rather flanked events. This garden being fully enclosed brings a sense of being completely immersed in the garden, and something I long others to experience.

This past summer I had many a picnic with my kids under the pumpkin trellis. We very often would have breakfast - warm blueberry muffins, or scrambled eggs and berries in a bento box, eaten while watching the sleepy bees wake, and the early rising loons fly over. We would also end our evenings in the garden with a plate of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and a glass of wine for me, enjoying the perfect treat in the splendor of the garden. The food of course brought delight, but it really didn’t matter what we ate, as whatever it was tasted even better when eaten in the garden.

My garden now isn’t big enough for a dinner table, but there is space beneath the apple trees. I hosted several dinner parties beneath these trees over the summer. Oh how I love to host beneath these trees - the dappled light dances across the table, guests seated beneath the curved bows of the tree, a rich green canopy. The sun would slowly set, candles flickering and conversation swelling as the crickets song begins. What captivating evenings we had. I am excited to share more about these meals and the dishes we enjoyed together.

As I look to my garden this year, I want to continue to make it a place to gather in. I will share more in a series of posts covering what inspired by garden plans this year, the garden plans themselves, and the long term vision of my garden space.

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