Reflections on Winter Boredom and Spring Garden Planning

By Emilee Gettle
Published on August 9, 2016
article image
Courtesy of www.RareSeeds.com
As these beans demonstrate, there's an incredible amount of diversity in the seed world.

Dear Friends,

Remember, as a kid, when time seemed to creep along? The days passed so slowly, and it seemed like an eternity until Christmas. I must have driven my mom crazy whining out, “Mom, I’m bored!” She would try to get me moving out the door to go sledding or ice skating on our pond with my dad. Just like Scarlett O’Hara, grasping the dirt from her beloved plantation and promising herself that she would never go hungry again, I was never going to get bored again. Now, as an adult, I can’t keep up with the hours that are passing or my ever-lengthening to-do list. However, I love maximizing my irons in the fire!

I suppose that’s why, when it comes to planning our garden, we go just a tad overboard and plant about 2,000 varieties. In the world of heirlooms there is so much diversity it is fascinating. Just check out the beans pictured above! They look like works of modern art! The sad fact is that so much of the diversity we could be enjoying has been lost and shuffled under foot by corporations who now own most of the world’s seed supply. Even still, there are so many forgotten seed varieties that are hidden away in Grandma’s cupboard or in villages steeped in local culture around the world. Check out the articles by the Simcox family in this issue for a sampling of the treasure of genetic diversity is left to us, if we just claim it for our own gardens (Wonder of the Kalahari and Incan Foods).

While we are busy planning the gardens of 2015, we can still be enjoying an abundance of good food now, even as the snow piles up out the window and ice skirts across our windowpanes. Check out the Winter Gardening article in this issue for some ideas on how to prolong your harvest indoors and undercover.

So, before I close, what’s your New Year’s Resolution? In the fall, I became a Certified Holistic Health Coach. So, my resolution is to make a difference in the health of those with whom my path crosses. My prayer for you is that your family enjoys a New Year filled with peace and prosperity, but above all else, I wish you the blessing of good health for yourself and generations to come.

God Bless,

Emilee Gettle

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