Wintering.
This is wintering. A time to refuel, regroup and figure out what truly matters, with a recipe for Brussel Sprout Slaw.
It happens every year. I make a list of things to accomplish during the quiet months of winter: Organize garden tools, sort seed packets, and straighten out the bookshelves. But this year, that's where I stopped. The piles of books I want to read and those I'd started yet never finished, grew until I could do nothing else but collapse on the sofa and read.
This is wintering. A time to refuel, regroup and figure out what truly matters. It is a time for long walks in the woods, delighting in the activity at the birdfeeder, evaluating how to contribute to my community, both far and near. As a gardener, I use this time for evaluating how to add another season to my five-year plan, the garden I started almost 20 years ago that requires constant reinvention.
It is growing along with me as a guardian of this place. Wendell Berry, the farmer, activist, and writer once wrote that the measure of a good life might be, at the end of your days, to say you had added an inch of topsoil to whatever ground you were living on. Giving back, nourishing our soil, and honoring our landscape truly matters.
Our gardens give us a sense of place in this world, and not just for ourselves, but for the opportunity to teach, to share, and to feel deeply the natural world. A food garden opens all your senses to well-being and sanctuary. E.O.Wilson defined “biophilia” as love for the natural world and “the rich, natural pleasure that comes from being surrounded by living organisms.” That's the heart of a healthy garden.
This time of year, I revel in the abundance of Brussel sprouts, which I consider one of the elegant plants to grow in a garden. They take a bit of patience, and a cold blast to sweeten up the sprouts. Easy to prepare with a knob of butter and grinding of fresh pepper, yet sometimes it’s nice to try something a listed different, such as this recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Cashew Dressing.
When you make a kitchen garden beautiful, growing food and flowers, you are nurturing the land as well as yourself. We're all in this together, and I'd love to hear more about your green world.