GuardNGuy.blogspot.com

(Written in Winter 2005)    Never has a human malady had a better name than Seasonally Affected Disorder, or SAD.   It is a condition that people get in the winter, because apparently there isn’t enough sunlight to keep them cheerful.   Some people even get treatment in “sun boxes,” which are large banks of grow lights, or something, that help perk up SAD sufferers' spirits. One of the drawbacks of living in the north is that we really do get short changed by sunlight.   There have even been studies that show certain medical conditions have a higher incidence in the north, due to not enough vitamin D, which somehow comes from exposure to the sun. I would never make fun of anyone who has SAD.   I know some people who seem to have it all year around, though.   Maybe spring makes them sad due to the mud.   Maybe summer is too hot.   Maybe fall makes them sad because winter is just around the corner… Part of the problem is that a lot of people – like me, for instance – don’t take

 To me, gardening is largely therapeutic.  In a world of gray areas, a garden bed either has weeds in it, or it doesn’t.  Plants come up, or they don’t.  You win your battles against the deer and Japanese beetles, or you don’t.  No gray.  Black and white. When it comes to the vegetable garden, I’m most interested in getting the beds set up and planted.   Keeping them looking nice is also gratifying.   I have less enthusiasm for keeping up with the on-going harvesting.   This year my garden partner and wife (the same person) really kept up with the picking and preserving side of things.   We always do okay at that part of gardening, but this year she made it the best harvest we’ve had. As a result, almost every meal has something from our garden.   Pickled green beans, potatoes, frozen broccoli, apple sauce… it is gratifying to know that the work we put into the garden resulted in good things to eat.   I mean, that’s the whole point, but somehow this year it seems to be abundantly c