I tend to be a renegade gardener—with good intentions of
course. I till the soil and mark out each section of the soil with plans of
planting one seed at a time in tidy little rows. In the end, I usually wind up “seasoning” the whole area with tiny seeds like sprinkling salt on a T-bone,
wrecking havoc on my landscaping.

Perhaps it’s my enthusiasm that gets the better of
me---holding my future harvest in my hand in the form of tiny seeds. Each year
my sense of awe is renewed for what each seed promises to become --- whole
heads of leafy kale, bright bold scallions, spicy radishes….and sometimes
hybrid rows of kale-ions-ishes in places where my fingers weren’t nimble enough
to gather seeds from inside each packet without spilling the whole bunch.
But that’s half the fun---watching and waiting for the ground to get warm
enough, planting a scattering of seeds and then waiting….waiting….waiting for
little green patches to sprout up all around you, reminding you that the reward
isn’t in how neatly you planted those seeds, just that you planted them.

Sure, garden planning has its benefits, but don’t let
planning stop you from getting out there and planting some seeds. Plant them in
a pot, plant them on your windowsill, plant them right in the soil (organic
soil, of course) and see what springs up. You might find it’s more than a
little green patch.