Time to give thanks for miracles of the garden

It may be human nature to take things for granted when they work smoothly; indeed most of us can go through life without knowing how a good many things work at all. But this is the season when we count our blessings and give thanks for them. So, may I offer the following appreciation for some of the miracles of the garden which tend to be overlooked?

Start with the soil. One gram would scarcely fill a teaspoon, yet it contains two or three million bacteria and fungi, which faithfully breakdown and recycle whatever organic matter we offer them. (Without these little creatures, the earth would have been covered with a thick layer of dead vegetation and expired animals long ago.) The non-living portion of the soil, from clay particles to gravel, is equally miraculous in its ability to retain water and minerals, making them available in just the right way to every thirsty and hungry root. Notwithstanding many clever attempts, no man-made formula has ever come close to duplicating soil’s unique life-giving qualities.

If you’ve ever farmed for a living, you will know firsthand what a blessing the rain can be. Just an inch of rain falling on an acre of land equals 25,000 gallons of water, delivered free of charge and with an evenness that no sprinkler can match. My little submersible pump would have to labor for 83 hours continuously to extract that much water from the ground, at a cost of more than $10 in electricity alone. So the 40 inches or so of rain my acre receives every year works out to be quite a blessing.

But the greatest miracles are the plants themselves. We take for granted the variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers that can be grown in Maine, without thinking that each one represents the culmination of millions of years of passionate surviving in the evolutionary struggle. Each plant we grow is symbolic not only of the age of the planet but also of the earth’s extraordinary ability to cleanse and improve itself and its inhabitants.

And every leaf, if we could see inside it, contains a thriving colony of microscopic cells, each an independent food factory laboring with tireless enthusiasm. When the sun shines, those cells spring into action, circulating their contents round and round harvesting the energy of the sun. The net effect, at the end of the day, is that the world has been enriched by a staggering amount of freshly manufactured sugars and other molecules. These products of photosynthesis are the basis of all life on earth, including the turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce about to be consumed nationwide.

To the basic necessities of life, which spring from the garden with only the slightest encouragement from humanity, we must add also the spiritual well being that every gardener gains from tending his or her plants. Our unique gift is not only to work wonders with the soil, but to appreciate with our minds and hearts the glories of Creation.

Michael Zuck of Bangor is a horticulturist and the NEWS writing columnist. Send inquiries to him at 2106 Essex St., Bangor, Maine 04401.