The garden of the spirit
Roses at Kew Gardens, July, 2017
“The ground I tend sustains me in early summer, but the garden of the spirit is the place I go when the wind howls…Raised in the mind’s eye, nurtured by the faithful composting of orange rinds and tea leaves and ideas, it is finally the wintergarden that produces the true flowering, the saving vision.” — Louise Erdrich
Thank you, Louise Erdrich, for pointing out the beauty of our gardens of the spirit. I need the occasional reminder that this unseen garden requires tending, so that its blooms will be there to lift my heart when the wind howls. I was delighted to read that Erdrich uses the same compost materials I do. Sometimes I run low on orange rinds when they are out of season, but I’m never short on tea leaves or ideas. I also rely on the gifts of friends who bring me their coffee grounds, veggie peels and reassuring words to sprinkle over the soil after a hard rain.
If we were to take a quick tour through your garden of the spirit, what might we find there? Do you favor lots of annual color, or does the landscape feature mostly sturdy evergreens and hardy perennials? What are your favorite composting materials? Is yours a formal garden, with statuary and fountains and topiary? Or is it a beautifully overgrown cottage garden with a cute bistro table and chairs for casual chats over a cup or two? Maybe you are a practical type whose garden puts wholesome fruits and vegetables on the table, or maybe your own garden of the spirit is a combination of many types.
The wonderful thing about gardens, whether of the earth or of the spirit, is that no two are exactly alike. But they all require diligent care. If you run short on composting materials or need some help with the weeding, let me know. Cooperation and community are the most productive and fun ways to cultivate thriving gardens of the spirit. Iced tea (or hot coffee) and comfy chairs will be waiting for us on the Verandah when we finish working for the day. Sun hat optional.
This post was first published seven years ago. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: care, compost, cooperation, faith, fun, gardens, hope, ideas, optimism, resilience, spirit, weather, work
Defeat Despair 
Good morning, Julia! The garden of my spirit is a lot like my current gardens at home – overgrown and not completely tended. I’m not entirely sure what’s growing there, but at present there are more flowers and fruits than noxious weeds. In fact, I need to harvest my grapes today, before the squirrels and birds take them all.
I’m wishing you a similarly “fruitful” day!
Susan, as I write this, there are landscaping crews outside doing some LONG overdue work on my front garden and patio. I had the back garden beds done already. In 2022 my facial injury happened on March 30, and in 2023 Matthew’s catastrophic, near-death hospitalization and months-long recovery requiring my administration of round the clock antibiotics also began in May. So there was two years of overgrowth and weeds to clean out, and I finally had to conclude I’d never get it all done myself, as therapeutic as I find it. At approximately halfway through, it has been well worth the expense.
I’m so glad you are able to find some help! Sometimes we need that, just to catch up.
By the way, I made many jars of grape jelly this year, and they have been delicious. I guess it was worth all that effort again this year!
I’m so glad to know that somebody STILL makes jelly at home! Jeff’s mother used to make blackberry jam fresh each morning — really!– in a skillet on the stove, as she cooked breakfast for us. Wow, what a happy memory that is for me, especially during our lean years when we couldn’t afford to eat out even at the cheapest restaurant. Keep making that jelly! I’m sure it’s good for the soul as well as the body.