Ladies and gentleman, this is our garden

All the flowers in our garden have reached their glory, even the late bloomer, the luffa, 已經開花結果上桌, 大陸妺, 空心菜 and arugula have been on the table.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is the time to let Katy introduce our garden to you.

The first luffa harvested: A ribbon cutting ceremony

Harvesting the first luffa calls for a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Joy of gardening and muse in the garden

“This garden has a world of pleasure in it”, uttered by Emilia in Act II, Scene 2 of Two Noble Kinsmen,  I would unabashedly say the same thing, as all the flowers paint our garden with delight, paraphrasing from a song of spring in Love's Labour's Lost.

Rarely did I describe the beauty of flowers, words always escape me; I let them speak for themselves.

Someone said "A garden is a delight to the eye and a solace for the soul."  We cultivate not only the veggies and flowers, but also the mind.

Reading the wonder and beauty of science often makes me more religious, so does working in the garden.  If you do not believe in miracle, just plant a garden.  No wonder Emily Dickinson wrote, “We are closer to God in a garden than any place on this earth.” Bernard Shaw echoed the same sentiment when he said, “The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.”

Thomas Jefferson may not be a pious Christian, but I truly believe he is a religious man, I am sure he considered himself “the chosen people of God” when he said, “Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God.”

One may argue that Jefferson had slaves working in the garden at Monticello, it is true that the slaves did most of the manual labors, but we read in his letter to Maria Cosway in 1795 (I once wrote a post about Jefferson and this beautiful French lady), “I was become, for instance, a real farmer, measuring fields, following my ploughs, helping the hay makers. . .”

We cultivate some veggies (such as luffa 菜瓜, Taiwanese spinach 空心菜, 冬莪）that we grew up with and that are not available here.  Jefferson did the same thing in his garden during his 5-year (1784-1789) stay in Paris; we read, “I cultivate my own garden here.  Indian corn for the use of my own table, to eat green in manner.”  He also had sweet potato, watermelon, cantaloupe and acorn, none of which was available in Europe in his days.

Once in an email, Katy said “我家先生有些地方是新手! “ meaning inexperience, there is a better way to rephrase it like Jefferson said of himself, “Though an old man I am but a young gardener,” although I never made a mistake thinking I am in charge in the garden.  I am always resigned to the fact that it is a 看天田，and we're at the mercy of the All Mighty.