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Over 50 years ago, my wife’s grandfather shared a piece of wisdom that has stuck with me: “The best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow.”
It wasn’t about compost, fish emulsion, or the perfect pH balance… nope. It was about presence. Time. Observation. Getting your hands dirty and your boots a little muddy at times.
As we head into the 2025 growing season, let’s not miss the chance to rediscover what gardening is really about. Let’s not just plant our seeds and retreat to the comfort of air conditioning. Rather, let’s immerse ourselves in the beauty, mystery, and small miracles that only happen when we show up consistently in the garden.
Let’s be in the present moment this year… and grow more than just vegetables.
Your Garden Wants You!
You don’t need to be a master gardener to make a difference in your soil. Just showing up regularly… checking for pests, pulling a few weeds, noticing how the leaves look… can change the whole trajectory of your season. Plants respond when someone cares. And oddly enough, so do people.
A garden that’s visited often becomes more productive. You catch problems early. You see what’s thriving and what isn’t. You experiment, you adapt. And in the process, you become part of your garden eco-scape, not just the manager of it. The garden begins to shape you as much as you shape it.
A Front Row Seat to Miracles
Something magical happens when you spend time in a garden. What starts as a chore becomes a form of therapy. The act of watering, observing, harvesting—even just standing still and listening… begins to nourish your spirit as much as it nourishes your body.
You notice how bees choose one flower over another. How quickly the soil dries after a hot afternoon. How a tomato can go from green to ripe almost overnight. These aren’t just nice moments… they are reminders that life is happening right here, in your backyard.
Don’t Miss the Show
In spring and summer, if you’re in the moment and you actually take the time to look, a transformation happens every day in your garden. If you only check in once a week, you miss the daily drama… the new tendrils reaching for support, the overnight bloom, and the squash vine suddenly stretching across the yard.
Life is short… don’t miss the show!
Instead of just planting and waiting, try hanging out a bit. Take your coffee out in the morning and just walk the rows. Pull a few weeds while you’re talking to your wife or kids. Deadhead flowers while you’re thinking through a work problem.
The more time you spend, the more connected you feel. And soon, you’ll find that you’re looking forward to being out there. It’s not a chore… it’s a privilege, a special time just for you and your garden.
Where Contentment Can Grow
It’s true, there’s something profoundly healing about being among living things. The garden doesn’t care about your stress, your deadlines, or the internet. It just needs your attention, your patience, your shadow.
Studies show that gardening lowers cortisol levels, reduces anxiety, and improves mood. But you don’t need some pencil-neck scientist to tell you that… just five minutes among the beans or tomatoes will do the trick. Especially in a world that already moves too fast, where screens dominate our attention, the garden invites us back into something slower, something ancient, something real.
Make This the Year You Stay Awhile
So what if, this year, your garden didn’t just feed your body… but also your mind and soul? What if instead of just planting and walking away, you showed up again and again… not because you had to, but because you wanted to?
What if you brought your shadow into the garden, day after day, and let the magic of presence do its quiet work?
Spring 2025 is a fresh start. A chance to grow some nutritious food, sure…but also an opportunity to grow peace, presence, and joy. The plants will do their part. Will you?
Back to Eden… Back to Your Garden
The best gardens aren’t necessarily the biggest, or the most technical, or even the most productive. They’re the ones that have been loved. Walked through. Watched carefully. Tended with care and with time.
Your garden doesn’t need perfection. It just needs you.
So step outside. Slow down. Let your shadow fall across the soil, day by day. And watch what grows… not just in the ground, but in you.
