Sow It Grows
When Columbus and the Valley Magazine approached me about writing a bimonthly column, I was trepidatious.
After all, I’d force-fed people a music column in the Ledger-Enquirer for six years and a pop-culture column for three years after that. People had seen and heard enough from me, I thought. Additionally, we’re not after any more publicity for our farm, which has gotten more attention than it deserves, considering the scale of what we do. To that end, Jenn and I made a conscious decision last year to talk less about Dew Point and focus more on the doing (or is it, more properly, the Dew-ing?).
Jodi Saunders, the very kind and understanding editor/publisher of the mag, understood all of this. But, after a program we presented at the Columbus Public Library on growing fruit and vegetables at home (“Eat Your Yard,” we called it), she insisted that the column could focus on practical information like that for growers.
I tested the waters: “What about navel-gazing pieces about birdwatching while you’re weeding?” I asked. “Or about how electric tools are way better than gas ones?” And, perhaps most importantly, “What if I want to call it ‘Sow It Grows’ as an homage to Kurt Vonnegut?”
“I am 100 percent behind that name,” she replied.
And so we’re off …
The debut column, which mostly serves as an introduction, just landed. As such, with apologies, it does talk some about Dew Point Farm. That’ll abate as time goes on, I swear. It’s available online, cheap as free. You can read it here, on page 24.
Here’s the opening:
For me it’s putting my fingers in the loam, feeling the cool earth, withdrawing my hands and seeing the dirt packed under fingernails, digits dusted with soil like the worst powdered doughnut ever. But a close second is plucking that first tomato off the vine – at our place that’s a sungold cherry tomato, orange and sweet – and plopping it straight into my maw.
Everyone who grows food’s got their spark; the visceral thing that brings them joy from the act. Maybe it’s as simple as spending time in the quiet yard. Or seeing the gooseneck of a green stem uncurl from the earth, just a week after you tucked in the seed.
Maybe you had to till the soil first, or build a raised bed for your little plants. And maybe you still have some tough jobs ahead, like trellising and weeding. But believe me when I tell you those little endorphin pings are enough to make you overlook all the work that goes into gardening.