Michael Womack
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Saturday, November 20, 1999

Give thanks for natural bounty, and for beetles

Gardeners asked to reflect upon all of their botanical blessings

 

Thanksgiving is considered by many to be a chance to get few days off work to watch football, eat turkey, visit family and finish Christmas shopping. It's more than simply a chance to overeat without guilt, it's really a time to reflect on the past year and give thanks. Many Americans often overlook some of the most valuable blessings all around them, and yes, even we gardeners take many of these botanical blessings for granted.
   Here are a few suggestions of things for which we should be thankful:
  

The essentials of life that plants provide through both food and oxygen.
  

The physical strength that is needed to prepare a garden or tend your yard.
  

The trees around you and the shade they provide during those hot summer days.
  

The simple beauty found in a colorful flower garden, a lush landscape, or a well-
   tended vegetable garden.
  

Your concern that your family enjoys fresh, nutritious vegetables.
  

An understanding family who have developed a taste for wheelbarrow loads of eggplant, squash and tomatoes cooked in every conceivable kind of recipe.
  

Agricultural researchers and educators who make your gardening efforts much more productive.
  

Friendly neighbors who become friendlier as the garden approaches maturity.
  

Garden tools that help to make garden chores easier.
  

Nurserymen that provide products, information and convenience for your gardening endeavors.
  

That look of joy that appears on your youngsters' faces when picking that first ripe tomato or pulling up that first red radish.
  

Our long growing seasons and mild winters that allow us to enjoy lush, tropical landscapes and two vegetable gardens each year, even if we are destined to have a green Christmas.
  

Lady beetles, lacewings, lizards and, yes, even spiders that help to keep our garden pest populations down.
  

The invaluable experience gained from struggling to produce a garden or maintain a beautiful landscape.
  

The vegetable farmer who produces a crop every year to supply us when we fail; and last but not least:
  

The miracle of life and growth which we all, whether young or old, experience each and every time we plant a seed and watch it grow.
   Surely you can think of many more Thanksgiving gardening blessings. I encourage you and your family this Thanksgiving to take time to do exactly what the name says-give thanks. We often tend to overlook the blessings with which we are most familiar. Merry Thanksgiving and Happy Gardening!
  
  
1999 Caller-Times Publishing Company, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.