Digging in the Dirt

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Since last Saturday, I've been really excited about finishing my landscaping and getting the garden in. I went to see the Las Vegas Tomato Lady at her home to see her place and then over to the Tonopah Community Garden, where they have invited me to help them install a section and then give classes. All of this is of course at my own expense. However, I see other value in it.

Gardening gets you back down in touch with the earth. There is something about it that reenergizes you and helps you get in touch with what really matters. In the evenings when I stand in the yard watering things with the hose, a feeling of calm comes over me, and I forget about the burdens of the day. Plus, I get to teach about something I know and enjoy, and that has rewards as well. I do that for a living.

Today, I meet with a friend to plan the landscaping of my yard. I am certain it won't meet my vision, but I am smart enough to realize that a male looks usually only at utility without too much regard for aesthetics or feeling. So, some of the plants will change, some of the costs will increase, and some of the layout in my head will be different when it actually goes in because I seek a marriage between utility and retreat that can only be accomplished by someone with an eye toward such things.

Your yard, especially in this town, should be an extension of your house. It should be a room in which you enjoy spending time. Too many Vegans have a backyard for no other reason than to act as a buffer between them and their nearest neighbor, to avoid sharing a wall, like they would in larger cities. They never go out in them, and so it matters very little with what plants or features, in any, they are filled. However, a nice yard creates a mood and serves as a place that enhances the living experience, and now that I'm hoping to earn some extra money teaching, I'm willing to commit.

I still may make changes. After all, I am the one who has to live there, and my taste matters a little bit. No sense putting in a plant for which I care very little. Also, there's plenty of opportunity for sweat equity here to both cut my costs as well as connect me to the finished product and ground me in the earth from which all other living things draw strength.