That Looks Like a Lot of Work

New garden - October 2005

It seems like every time someone sees our gardens, they make the comment, "That looks like a lot of work." Well, yes and no. Merriam-Webster defines work this way:

• to fashion or create a useful or desired product by expending labor or exertion on

What we do in our gardens is useful - we get exercise, we get to enjoy the birds and butterflies the flowers attract, we get to eat the vegetables that grow there. Both flowers and veggies are desired products and heaven knows we expend labor and exert ourselves.

• to exert oneself physically or mentally especially in sustained effort for a purpose or under compulsion or necessity

Compulsion or necessity? Not a necessity, like our 'other' work we do. Our jobs are what allow us to eat and have a roof over our heads and continue with our compulsion. Okay, my compulsion.

• to perform or carry through a task requiring sustained effort or continuous repeated operations

Plant, plant, plant. Mulch, mulch, mulch. Weed, weed, weed. Hoe, hoe, hoe. Water, water, water. Rinse and repeat.



So I guess it is work, when you look at it like this. But it just doesn't seem right to call it work when it's something we enjoy so much. That's not to say that we don't enjoy our paying jobs, but we'd rather be gardening.

New garden - July 2006

Yes, the last picture of our garden is the same space you see in the picture at the top of this post. The photo of the Monarch butterflies on the sunflower in that same garden, was taken by K.C. Angel last summer, when he was visiting from Illinois. Photo of garden putter is from Smith & Hawken.