Back to my gardening roots

Reflection by Gerald Trumbule

I've finally returned to gardening, which was an oppressive burden in the days of my childhood. My Dad always insisted that my older brother and I help with the gardening in the community plots of Greenbelt, Md., about a mile from our house. It seemed an endless, hot, sweaty, boring task, especially because it meant we had to give up swimming that day.

Amazingly, when I visited with my nephew Robert Trumbule who now lives in Greenbelt, I discovered that by chance, he had the same plot as my Dad, some 50+ years later, and was unaware of the coincidence (or maybe he was putting me on).

Now that I have nothing but free time, I must admit I find gardening enjoyable, in a Zen kind of way, and am growing lettuce (too much), radishes, beets, beans, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and spinach. Fits in with future sustainability concept as well. And there's nothing like a really fresh salad with balsamic vinegar to eat while contemplating the ability of each seed to contain the blueprint for the delicious vegetable that is sustaining you.