We spent a week in the Smokies on our first family vacation. I was a little nervous about being gone that long.
Would all my little plant babies be ok for that long?
Would our newly planted trees shrivel and die?
Would Pecky Greenleg and the rest of our new chickens miss me?
When we left, the vineyard was just starting to get wild.
The grasses in the pasture and the swales were just starting to get tall.
The fedge and kitchen garden were just starting to boom and bloom.
One week.
That’s how long we were gone.
Now the vineyard is…wild.
Hops gone wild
Close-up of the grapes
Now grasses in the pasture and swales are…tall.
Swales
Jerusalem Artichokes
Now the fedge and kitchen garden are…booming.
Borage and tomato row
Burgundy Amaranth in the herb spiral
Borage and tomatoes
Cabbage and broccoli patch
Brussels sprouts
We weren’t there to witness this burst of growth. And, even if we’d been there, we wouldn’t have noticed such a big change right away.
Growth is gradual. So slow that you barely notice it…until the day you do.
That’s the day you realize that the garden you’ve tended so diligently and with such care has grown into something beautiful…and you almost missed it.
You plant the seeds
You pull the weeds
You watch and tend with care
Until one day
You see that they
Have grown without you there
a pinch of homestead 