SLOW

GARDENING
A No-Stress Philosophy for All Senses and Seasons

FELDER RUSHING
Foreword by Roger Swain

Slow Gardening

Some Slow Gardening Tenets

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. Soren Kierkegaard People often get bogged down with the details of life, seeing everything as a confusing morass of intricacieslike a ball of rubber bands. This book attempts tode-construct gardening into simple acts that are in themselves only tools for attaining the bigger goal of savoring our lives. Here are a few of the basic concepts or tenets of Slow Gardening: Take it easy. Slow doesnt necessarily mean simple or lazy. In fact, d intertwine m its many arated fro it can actually involve more work, sep cannot be Gardening activities. just spread out over time in a nd concepts a leisurely fashion. Its a one-foot-in-front-of-theother approach similar to preparing regular, interesting meals at home. There is no need to get hung up about the rules of garden design and step-by-step instructions in gardening how-to books. You can be cussedly independent, contemplative, unhurried, and unworried. Be in it for the fun, and take your time about it. Dont be paralyzed by what youre not doing right, or by what you think you ought to do. Slow Gardening does not discriminate based on materials, personal style, or level of interest or expertise. Along these lines, Slow Gardening is less about style, and more a way of being in tune with whatever rings your bell. Slow Gardeners might be hard-core green gardeners with a penchant for native plants and sustainable methods, or sharply focused lawn fanatics, daylily collectors, or people who just love to grow tomatoes. Theyre not trying to get anywhere, since they have already reached their destination. If it thrills you and youre doing it, thats Slow Gardening.

An Introduction to Slow Gardening

Though most of us suffer inhospitable weather at least part of the year, we still love puttering around the yard and garden. So naturally, anything that connects us to our gardens without causing a lot of sweaty exertion is always welcomeespecially if it is simple enough for the gardener to be the only moving part! Simple tools and simple motions, for simple pleasures. Slow Gardeners dont mind spending more money trying to grow tomatoes than theyd have cost at the store, just for that first hot-off-the-vine bite in the summer. And we grow plants of all descriptions that like our climate, and that provide something for local wildlife. We often grow attractive vegetables, fruits, and herbs that double as regular ornamentals in flower beds and pots. We try to plan ahead so we can harvest food and flowers for as long as possible, with as little effort as practical. And we tend to seek out and plant heirloom vegetables, bulbs, and flowers that multiply readily so we can share with others. Get er done. You dont have to be an expert to garden, or even to Gardening enjoyment is an all-se ason affair work very hard. Clichs can help: .

Slow Gardening

No need to go whole hog right off the bat. Dont have to eat the whole enchilada. In fact, your garden provides natural opportunities to kick back, relax, and step off the treadmill. Grab a digging fork or a water bucket, and slip right into the rhythm of the seasons. Get together. Gardeners have always been a sharing tribe. Move into a new community that has gardeners, and it wont be long before someone chats you up (even in a grocery store line) about the weather or the season, which can quickly lead with a smile to something about gardening. Before you know it, your garden could have plants shared by seed, rooted cutting, or division, plus solid advice, all locally grown and region-specific. None of this is new; this is how people have gardened for centuries, until the advent of television, air-conditioning, and the Internet drove us inside and away from neighbors. But people want to get back to the gardenthey just dont know how. When they turn to someone for help, they often get sidetracked by alluring advertiseadvertise ments, or lulled into having someone else do most, if not all, the work for them. But there is a renewed interest in both community gardening and the allimportant activity of gardening with children (both at school and at home). There are many horticultural societsociet ies, countless local garden clubs, and university master gardener groups. Most have regularly scheduled educaeduca tional events, garden tours, and plant swaps and sales. There are even guerilla gardening groups that work covertly to improve city life through public gardening, using fewer horticulhorticul tural rules and more gardening know-how. tting.
Passing alo nd skills ng ideas a is easy in a garden se

An Introduction to Slow Gardening

There is no smile like a homegrown smile.