Production?

This is the first real year the terrace garden has been going. Last year was a wash with the rainy June we had combined with the just-completed nature of the project. Presently, hard edges on stone are beginning to soften, at least to my eye, and the plants are happy with having a full season of growth and the luxury of nutrient rich soils and thermal gain. As the nights get cooler and the spiciness of Autumnal winds begin to infuse the little valley where we live, I begin to reflect over the year and about definitions of productivity.

By all accounts, the garden was productive as you can see from the photos of the tomatoes below. Thus far we've had 25-30 pounds of glorious love apples. Peppers have been abundant too as have been the carrots, beets, collards and medicinal herbs.

I'd argue too that the garden has been productive in it's calling me to be "unproductive" and rest. Sitting amidst the swaying fronds of the asparagus ferns, counting butterflies on the Mexican Hyssop and combing the sea of bobbing nasturtium leaves for the zingy orange flowers to zest up salads or the mid afternoon doldrums, I become more productive and creative. Perhaps being in a garden reminds me of why I am doing what I do, getting me back to the most elemental joy of seeing complex sensory and spatial dynamics in easy harmony.