Vegetables, yes, but sunflowers too

Whether you are into bio-regionalism, the locavore or local food movement, food security, sustainability or whatnot, gardening seems to be at the center. And the prime purpose of a garden, of course, is to be able to grow your own food. 

But I have a little confession to make. Behind the utilitarian value of it all, I’ve discovered that I am a bit of an aesthete as well.

Sunday, despite the ungodly high temperature (heat index over 110 degrees!), my son and I spent over two hours beautifying our little plot—picking up trash from around the vacant lot, rearranging the bags of leaves we use in our compost, cutting down the overgrown grass around the garden’s perimeter, and so on. We also managed to pick around 90 incredibly delicious cherry tomatoes, 175 pole beans, and various peppers, some okra and squash too. And even though the food is the main thing (and the little orange tomatoes were especially delicious), the best part of the day was stepping off a little ways away and taking in how beautiful the garden looked after our efforts. (And in the interest of full disclosure, it’s our friend Bob who has been doing the really hard work over the past weeks—weeding.)

Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, spent quite a bit of ink on the subject of beauty. Her main thrust was that the need for beauty is universal among humans, and while yes, the hungry and poor need bread—they need roses too. Beauty is intimately intertwined with human dignity, and thus is an operating principle for us at the Gainesville Catholic Worker. Whether in how we keep the house or the presentation of the meal, we take beauty into consideration.

So back to the garden. When Kelli was planning out our garden, I have to admit that my main concern was not what good, practical and important food we would be growing, but whether she was planning to plant some flowers too. (She was. We did.)

I appreciate the vegetables very much, but it is the flowers which really move me and draw me to our garden. Zinnias and sunflowers dominate the front edge and the heart of it. When I see them through the wire fence at the back of our garden, or coming round the corner of the house that sits on the front of the lot, or from my car window as I drive slowly by along 2^nd Street, I get a catch in my throat. They’re beautiful. I’m kind of giddy as my eyes are drawn skyward to gaze on the new sunflower just opened; I am lighthearted and joyful when, after being gone a few days, I return to find a dozen multi-colored zinnias suddenly burst open during my absence.

So, with apologies to Dorothy and the immigrant women who first coined the slogan at the Lawrence Textile Strike in 1912: “I want vegetables, yes—but sunflowers too.”

-John

Comments

[Matthew]

Inspiring, friend. Thanks for sharing.

A question for either of you...is it too late in the summer to plant cucumbers and pole beans?

[Sheila B.]

What a lovely post. It reminds me of a Buddhist proverb; "If you have two loaves of bread, keep one to eat, sell the other, and with it's dole; buy hyacinth, to feed your soul."

[Iris]

i rode my bike by the garden the other day and it was beautiful and the sunflowers are huge!

[flower gift Philippine send]

Bright and cheery, the sunflower is a warm and caring gift.nice shots!the picture above encourages me to plant sunflowers.that is so magnificent.thank you for sharing..

seth