Countries all over the world are trying to cope with unprecedented disasters, many weather related, and many more unfortunately caused by testosterone crazed warmongers. Who knows when and how it will all end?
Going back to Eileen’s quote above, it's always good to take a break and derive a new attitude towards things you don't much like, but have no control over them. This is the time to be grateful and enjoy many interests, plus every good day that comes along during the months of winter.
"I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow."
-David Hobson
It's a challenge, with all the elements David Hobson describes. That's what makes winter most difficult...the storms, the inability to go out there and see what's happening, because most things are in a state of inertia.
A garden with plants that are loved seems to give back all the caring, with interest. Yesterday was a stormy, rain-soaked day. But the wonderfully productive green beans still managed to donate a fair number to the kitchen, and I also pulled three leeks for winter soup. Not bad more than halfway through October!
Anyone can have a garden. One time, when I was out of touch, in a remote place, I only had a garlic bulb. I scratched up some earth into a small container I found, and grew one clove. It grew, and looking after it was an experience that kept me grounded. It was my garden; a spiritual connection to the earth.
"The first supermarket supposedly appeared on the American landscape in 1946. That is not very long ago. Until then, where was all the food?
"Dear folks, the food was in homes, gardens, local fields, and forests. It was near kitchens, near tables, near bedsides. It was in the pantry, the cellar, the backyard" -
-Joel Salatin
Veg
Tomatoes, too. Masses, all prepared and ready to go into simple dishes.
Squash--enough to see us through the cold days.
So in reality, the veggies you grow just keep on giving until next spring. Meantime, you get to focus on all your other interests and friends during this time of comparative relaxation.
Don't forget the seed catalogues! They'll start arriving soon, so you can start getting ready for next spring.
Vicki