“Spring’s coming soon,”‘ my father told me the other day, when he saw the first robin on our lawn. According to my dad and all four of my late grandparents, the robin returning is a good sign that winter is ending. So we are less than one month away from the spring equinox. Just what does that mean?
Finally, those dreaded dark gloomy, cold days are almost over. We can spend more time outdoors in the warm, bright sun. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Spring than planting your own vegetable garden. Especially nowadays with the rise in the cost of food, and the need to help Mother Earth. No one small garden isn’t going to stop climate change, but it’s a step in the right direction. So is composting, which is also a great natural and cheap fertilizer for your garden.
This should put us all on alert that it’s time to start planning for our gardens, both internal and external. Yes, that’s right, start preparing. Think about what you would like to plant this year. Get out a piece of paper, maybe graph paper if you have it available. Chart out where you are planting those seeds come spring. Buy any seeds that you might need, some garden soil – not dirt, and containers if you need them.
Back to the composting that I mentioned earlier. Think ahead: save your coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, crushed eggs shells, vegetable scraps and stale bread. Dump them in a container that seals and start making compost. Expensive compost bins are nice, but a large sealable cereal container works well. Or a cat litter jug or bucket. You’ll be amazed how quickly cucumber peels and strawberry tops become soil. Hint: the smaller the pieces, the faster the process goes, especially if you add some outside dirt to it.
Or just dig a hole and dump the compost into the garden area. I do this all year long, unless it’s rainy or the ground is snow covered or frozen. Use a zipper bag and pile up your compost until it’s full. Then store it in the fridge until it can be composted into your garden.
By the way, it doesn’t have to be your whole backyard. It can be a window box, hanging baskets, patio planters, or just the spaces in front of the shrubs at your apartment building (with consent, of course). Join a community garden, or help start one. Or offer to help an elderly couple near you with their gardening so you can learn. The point is you are trying and learning, plus you are growing something more than grass, which only grasshoppers and lawnmowers eat.
While you are at it, plant intentions along with your seeds or starts.. Plant goals you can harvest in a few months. Short term goals are just as important as life-long changes. Maybe there is a class you’ve been meaning to take, or a skill or hobby you’d like to learn. It could be a full blown career change. Plant these intentions into the soil. In fact, plant them with your seeds in your indoor “hot house.” Water them, physically and mentally, and watch them grow. By the way, your human “indoor hot house” is your heart.
When you check on your plants, also look at yourself and the personal goals you’ve set. Did you just plant the seed then forget to care for it by looking for ways to bring it to fruition? See where you are now and what you need to do to make it happen. Don’t think you could just “set them and forget them.” Your garden will need water, sun, a bit of fertilizer and your attention, even if it’s only 5 minutes a day. The same applies to yourself and those intentions that you planted with the seeds.
PHOTO BY BLUMENBIENE
Your first check should be at Ostara, then again at Beltaine, Litha and yep, during Lughnasadh — Aug. 2. Then finally at Samhain, the last harvest, you should have your goals met. Time to pick that harvest.
This spring in particular, we all need to look beyond the noise and confusion in the world. See what can be done to help our communities. Who do you know that’s going to be impacted by the changes coming out of Washington D.C.? Even if those changes don’t impact you directly, outside of price hikes, someone you know is afraid of losing benefits, jobs, family or even their lives. Like vegetables in the garden, when under attack, if we do not stand together, we will all fall, and fail.
As a group, Sacred Wheel CUUPs is setting new goals this year. We already had one co-led ritual at our homebase, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, New Jersey. We’re looking forward to more, especially those that expand our ritual framework. Additionally, we want to encourage others to take the lead, Like my elders the Rev. Foxxy (Sher) Pullen, the late Herm— and Yoda used to say, “Don’t try, do.” There is no failure unless you don’t try. By trying and not doing as well as you like you learn: you grow. Isn’t that what spring is all about? Growth: inside and out.
See also: Imbolc: spring’s coming — plant seeds and intentions,
Spring is here! Plant seeds to work on your physical & mental gardens,
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