Adopt the pace of nature

‘April is the Cruellest Month’ said T.S. Eliot in his poem ‘The Wasteland’. Now a lot of scholars have debated his meaning, but I think I know exactly what he was talking about. Look out of the window on an April morning and see the sun shining brightly. How wonderful you think as you set off in a carefree manner dressed only in the merest whisper of a cardigan. But here’s the thing, a few paces away from the house and you are assailed by spears of icy wind. Oh yes, April is a cruel month tantalizing the impatient with the promise of warm days and long nights, but then teasingly holding back that little bit longer.

Ah but gardeners know this, they are not fooled by false promises, patience is a hard won virtue for horticulturalists . Cultivating anything – whether flowers, fruit or veg – means much waiting. From planting a seed to the flowering or harvesting stage usually takes months with the wise gardener just letting nature takes its course – helping it gently on its way – weeding a bit, feeding a bit and often just watching the sky wishing for sun or rain. It’s no wonder then that gardening is not a hobby taken up by the young; for teenagers instant gratification is just not speedy enough.

I thought about this as I drove to our local nursery to collect asparagus crowns. It’s been a long held ambition to plant an asparagus bed – how wonderful it would be to have fresh spears that can be picked and quickly cooked before the texture and flavour starts depreciating. I exclaim to the helpful man at the garden centre that it was hard to believe that these brown spidery lifeless roots would sprout and grow into flourishing, leafy plants producing such a great delicacy. ‘Hmm’, he says scratching his head laconically, ‘of course you won’t get any this year, only a few not worth mentioning next year – you’ll have to wait for the year after that for your first real crop! Whaat! Is he really saying I’m going to have to wait until 2012 before dribbling butter on to my very own freshly cooked asparagus. Ah well as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience’.