My COVID Garden

This garden was a nostalgic project to draw me out of the spiraling newsfeed and into the dirt; to give us all a way to enjoy the glory of quarantined summer bounties. I’ve harvested pounds of squash, canned 11 gallons of pickles (with more on the vine) and tasted some of the best homegrown tomatoes of my life. I’ve also watched helpless as my tomato plants shriveled and died before my eyes, lost an entire crop of beets (my first!) emerge half chewed by a mystery rodent and am losing the battle against powdery mildew. But the true gift of my garden isn’t the food but the moments when I connect my loss or my win with the way the world works— experiencing the macrocosm in the microcosm. The failures, the delights, the fleeting losses and wins. It reminds me that nothing is ever permanent and change, when embraced, can be a friend not foe. #cookcovidadventures2020