My feet were sinking into the boggy ground as I gazed at the wet, cold soil of our garden. This time of the year we are getting eager to plunge into cultivating the plot. The soil is not workable yet, so most of the activity is a mental exercise. We daydream about the treasures to come. In my mind, beautiful flowers and vegetables cover the area. The tomato plants will be in that corner, the cucumbers will go over on that side and the peppers will go here. A border of marigolds will be nice to look at and is supposed to keep rabbits away. This is the best sort of gardening because the gardens of the mind are bug-free and there are no weeds.
A garden without weeds proves how far from reality our fantasies can take us. The truth is that in our fertile Michigan soil, the weeds are unbelievably prolific. They can take over the whole plot before the tender cultivated plants can even get started. We have to weed and mulch constantly to keep from getting overwhelmed beyond control.
Last summer we received a letter from my aunt Seba and she said, “When you garden, doesn’t it remind you of the world trying to creep in? The weeds, like the world, just take over if you don’t keep up with them on a daily basis.”
I thought this was a concise analogy. A few little lamb’s quarters that pop up after a rain, if left unrestricted, will within two days be a miniature forest that takes major efforts to pull. If the weeds get too far out of hand, there is the danger of tearing up the good plants in the process.
Little bad habits and worldly actions are the same. They escalate and become firmly entrenched before we know it. Once they have settled in, they are difficult to eradicate and cause inestimable damage. It is far better to stay alert and at the first hint of weeds creeping into our lives, pull them up before they become too deeply entrenched.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One