Gardening as TRIAGE

TRIAGE:  assignment of degrees of urgency to decide the order of treatment of a large number of patients or casualties.

I like to weed. Weeding as meditation. God speaks to me in simple sentences when I am weeding in the garden.  

I was happy a couple of weeks ago, thinking how in between these wonderful rain storms I would get outside to enjoy that clear blue sky and the winter sun. How I would dig in the soft garden soil. Smell the earth. Tend the garden beds. Patting perennials on their little heads, poking around the winter bulbs that are popping up.

But then I got the flu. 

The view taunting me from my bedroom - 98% of the verdant growth is weeds. 

I can see the garden from my bedroom.  I kept thinking I’d feel like tackling those weeds ‘tomorrow’.

But a whole week went by.  

What began as a refreshing splash of green native grasses and dandelions was quickly turning into mob rule. Unmanageable. Aggressive. More so as each day went by. 

I needed a strategy, figuring the first day on my feet I would have very limited energy to spend. So I laid in bed and staked out the biggest and baddest weeds first. The ones with flowers. The ones thigh-high. This is gardening as TRIAGE. The only intention is to stop the bleeding. And it works. One 45 minute session and the seed scattering weeds were all gone.

Now I am feeling much better. And I am on to weeding the native grasses – which I love - but I don’t want them everywhere. I will pull those by hand. Creating a meadow with space for seating in the center. Every day I will do a little bit and it will not take long before I have them all under control.

Having my hands in the garden, I will also have a good idea about the quality of the soil and which plants are doing well. Which ones might need more attention. Where I might add some color or texture.  

I like to dig in the dirt. I like to weed. It keeps me healthy.