As I write this column, fresh produce is overflowing on my kitchen counter. A watermelon threatens to roll off the table every time someone walks by. A bag of tomatoes awaits it fate after being missed as part of the last batch of homemade salsa. Every variety of pepper can be found among the multiple plastic bags scattered around the kitchen.
And the buckets and buckets of zucchini and squash sitting on the floor? What to say about those never-ending gourds except that they seem to keep appearing magically and are simply always around. As the joke goes, it’s that time of year when if you leave your vehicle (or in my case, my office door) unlocked, you’ll likely find produce left behind.
All of this is great problem to have because I don’t have a home garden, a very intentional decision. For years, I planted a garden, spending an obscene amount of money on plants and seeds, only to see the garden overtaken by weeds with little to no produce at the end of the growing season. I could have just buried the dollar bills in the ground and come out the same at the end of the growing season.
Along with the financial aspect, I don’t enjoy bending over to dig in the dirt or kneeling for hours to pull the weeds or wondering what animal is going rub my hand as I search for veggies under the giant leaves. Personally, that is not how I want to spend my time.
But there are plenty of people who live for gardening. They enjoy the feel of the warm earth falling between their fingers, they take pleasure in lugging a hose around their yard and they look forward to the sun beating down on their back as they ruffle through the plants, looking for the hidden veggies. Kudos to everyone who enjoys working in a garden and managed to have not only enough produce to feed themselves but to sell or giveaway to others.
On a side note, can someone explain why are veggies so hard to find in a garden, even a well-manicured plot of ground? The giant leaves hide the zucchini until they are so big that they are practically inedible. Beans blend in with the stems so they are overlooked, only to find dozens more just when you thought you were one. And watermelons look they are perfectly ripe on the stems, only to be cut open revealing a white, tasteless interior. It’s like these fruits and veggies don’t want us to eat them, despite that being their only purpose.
But I digress….
Instead of planting a garden, I visit the farmer’s markets and rely on friends and family to gift their leftover produce. Buying or accepting the excess produce is my way of supporting others, who take pride and joy in their gardening skills. And judging by my countertop, this year has been a bountiful year with fruits and veggies arriving nearly daily.
Essentially, I am benefitting from what others took the time to work on earlier in the year.
And we are blessed to have a robust farmer’s market in McCook every Saturday morning, where anyone can get the freshest produce possible.
Simply put, we are all benefitting from the work of others, in this case, benefitting from those with a green thumb.
Along those same lines, we all benefit in our communities from the work of others. No one lives in a bubble. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Whatever analogy you want to use, we all live in a community that is better because of those who took the initiative to get things done, who made things happen in the past, who planted the seeds that grew into our community.
Moving forward, we are the people who need to plant the seeds to create the hometowns we want them to be. Each of us have unique skills that we can bring to the table to make our communities even better.
Maybe you are good at organizing events without breaking a sweat. Perhaps you know how to create a social media campaign in your sleep. Or you may be that person who just comes up with ideas but can get other people to do them.
Everyone has a role to play in their community, whether it is volunteering at the Humane Society; coaching a flag football team, or attending the next local theatrical production (in this case Elf in mid-November at the Fox) to support those who have spent countless hours rehearsing.
By working together and sharing our skills and passions and ideas, we can make our hometown even better and we all benefit in the end.
