Instead of relentlessly weeding and trimming, take time to stop and stare – to marvel at the sheer beauty of nature
T
he growing season is at its peak. There have been harvests already and more to come. The boughs of our plum tree bend towards the ground, heaving with fruit, and there are new cucumbers and courgettes swelling with each warm summer day.
My season started late, and since the spring equinox I feel as if I’ve been stumbling while I try to catch up. My crops are being outpaced by the creeping buttercup, couch grass and nettles that sneak under the chicken-wire fence. Self-seeded lemon balm and teasels pop up wherever there’s a thumbnail’s worth of bare soil. While it’s a glorious time in the veg patch, all I seem to feel is overwhelm.
While overwhelm is a feeling I know all gardeners experience at some point – whether in the depths of a long, soggy winter, or while watching blight take hold of their tomatoes, or just when contemplating a never-ending to-do list – it isn’t something I see people talk about much. Beyond the carefully curated photos and the thoughtfully worded, triumphant captions shared on Instagram, there are other feelings the garden can induce that we growers ought to share more.
