Empty Space

I've recently learned a lot about weeding and cultivation. Selectively pulling out plants so you can plant what you want to see grow, and managing the weeds as they creep in. One thing that goes along with weeding is that you end up with a lot of empty space, bare ground where plants or weeds once covered. And empty space in a garden just calls out for more weed invasions. Chickweed is a common weed around here. It starts off tiny and innocent and the next thing you know it has gone to seed and covered the entire garden. So one technique is to weed, or cultivate the chickweed and then plant something else in the space where it once grew. You can plant flowers that keep pests away and attract beneficial insects. Or you could plant other veggies that pair well with the one you want to grow. There are so many ways to fill empty space in a garden, transforming the bare into a beautiful, functional place. No matter how you fill the space though, the weeds are likely to come back again and again. However, as you persistently cultivate they will be less intense as time goes on.

Today is the 7th. June 7th. One month since I received an awful call explaining that my dad died. That is some heavy information. So heavy that I'm not quite sure how to process it. And it's odd how something so heavy, so intense has left me feeling so empty. There is this hole, this bare space in my heart. And I find myself trying to fill the empty negative space with positive things. I call my loved ones more than I ever have. I spend my time outside filling my mind with natural beauty and keeping my body busy with things to do. I am filling my empty space as best as I know how. And then there are moments and days where my sorrow creeps in, the chickweed creeps in, and it seems unmanageable. And I have to decide how to handle it.

All of this sorrow has given me great perspective. I know how important it is to appreciate every individual and every thing in my life. How great it is to feel joy and express laughter. And to appreciate the little things, like how wonderful it is when a bed is free of weeds- or at least has less than the day before.

In farming there is always weeding and cultivating to be done. It is how empty space is filled that determines the condition and success of the farm in the future.

As I have said many times before and will continue to say many times after, there really is a lot to be learned from farming.