The Gardener
Of all human activities, apart from the procreation of children, gardening is the most optimistic and hopeful. The gardener is by definition one who plans for and believes and trusts in a future, whether in the short or longer term. To sow seeds and plant out, to graft and propagate, whether it be peas and beans, apples and plums, roses and peonies, is to make one's own positive stake in that future, a gesture, declaring that there will be weeks, months, years ahead. And he who plants sapling trees, which will not arrive at their full maturity for fifty or a hundred years, is not only an optimist but a benefactor to coming generations.
Those who constantly think of war and dread its prospect, who see an end to mankind and his planet, whose spirits are shriveled and hearts bowed down by the troubles and threats of the age, who refuse to have any hope, take any comfort, see the glimmer of any new dawn, should be gardeners. The gardener learns to be by turns daring and adventurous, tender and ruthless, meticulous and haphazard, gentle and patient. But above all, he learns to revel in today, while being ever hopeful of tomorrow.
Susan Hill
Through the Garden Gate
published 1986
I couldn't agree more. It must mean the same to many others since seeds and plants are selling like no other time.
ReplyDeleteI hope some of the "homeyness" continues when the staying at home is over.
DeleteBut there is a lot of truth to calling gardening "the triumph of optimism over experience"! My 2020 deck garden is well underway though we brought all the plants in tonight (well, my son did) because they forecast a freeze.
ReplyDeleteIt has been pretty cold here, but I think it keeps the daffodils blooming longer than if it were too hot!
DeleteSuch a great quote. And so true!
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful Susan Hill. I haven't read this one. We've started our garden, a few rows of seeds up, things growing in the greenhouse and being hardened off. We were going to plant out the runner beans but they're forecasting a cold snap over the weekend so we'll hang on a bit.
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