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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” A Tale of Two Cities

Today, I worked on my herb garden. I had thrown a few potatoes into one little section since the soil was sitting unused and I had some sprouts. They seemed to really enjoy it there, so for now, I’ll let them stay. Since space is at such a premium around here, I can’t afford to be wasteful. I know I’m getting a late start on planting, but it can’t be helped. I have spent the past few months working on my food storage book and barely found time to take my dog for his daily walk. I knew I would be paying the price for my procrastination, but I had no idea it would be as bad as it was.

First off, by the time I visited the local nursery, my favorite nurseryman had sold it and moved north. The first clue that he was gone was the lack of plants. As I drove up, one car was in the lot. A woman on a cell phone was milling about with her phone glued to her ear. She could hardly be bothered with her only customer and when she finally lowered her phone (not hanging up) to ask us what we wanted, I realized I wasn’t going to have a good experience. Second, the scant amount of plants she did have were hideously mistreated. Yellowed leaves on some, and some pepper plants had ALL the leaves plucked off with only a small undeveloped pepper hanging off it. WOW—I couldn’t believe it, they’d removed every single one of the plant’s leaves. How was it supposed to nourish itself? Anyway, I left there, feeling as if this nursery woman, no, not nursery woman—just woman on the phone, had committed a heinous murder of vegetables—HOW DARE SHE!

We had to drive an extra ten miles to get to the second nursery.  As we rounded the corner, I could see the place filled with plants, compost heaps across the yard, and the nursery woman was actually happy to see us. No begging to ask prices. No feeling as though I was a rude interloper when asking about various plants. As I settled on my purchases, I was comfortable knowing that she had actually cared about producing great plants instead of just making a buck. This was evident in the quality of them, the courteous service and her knowledgeable suggestions. Although I didn’t get the exact plants I wanted because of my tardiness, I left meeting a fellow gardener—someone who took pride in their work and was interested in living a holistic and a purposeful life.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” A Tale of Two Cities

Take care, All—Hope you enjoyed the excursion into “A Tale of Two Cities,” one of my favorites.
If you’re interested in storing food, be sure to check out my new book. http://www.amazon.com/Nearly-Painless-Guide-Storage–Survival-Series-ebook/dp/B00KBCF5FC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1402019915&sr=8-2&keywords=hillary+bergeron