The Gardening Daydreams of the Winter Season

Long before the beginning days of Spring arrive, there are those numerous days, and sometimes nights, when our thoughts and daydreams are consumed with plans for the following season’s gardens. For me, the process begins with visualizing an area or areas that now lie fallow, then creating an image in my mind of how a crop or crops will look during the following year’s growing season. 

My first daydreams involve freshly turned soil in the garden. Rows are then laid off, and the first seeds of the new growing season are dropped into the furrows. 

I have been repeating this process for over 70 years. However, when a new season and planting time comes around, the process always seems new to me. A new beginning, a new life. The coming to life of age-old traditions, the age-old seeds that our forefathers grew generations ago and the same seeds that sustain us today. 

If I had to choose one image that stands out above all others, it would be that of new seedlings that break the soil’s crust and announce the beginning of a new season of growth. 

– John Coykendall, Blackberry Farm Master Gardener