It’s National Spinach Day today, at least according to email that we received this morning from the John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds company. And though the day does not have the official status of, let’s say, Memorial Day, or the cultural import of religious holidays, it does offer a small opportunity to reflect on great concerns of the day.
If there’s any rationale behind someone deciding that we should pause a moment to honor spinach on March 26, it probably has something to do with the fact that spinach seeds are commonly sown in early spring – indeed, as soon as the soil can be worked, according to instructions on many seed packs. And so even though spinach isn’t very important, those instructions are a useful reminder as we watch development of and worry about a mysterious pandemic.
Regardless of whether the soil is ready exactly on March 26 each year, the phrase “as soon as the soil can be worked” describes a pretty momentous occasion in the land of seemingly endless winter and reminds us to look ahead. Think of the words as gardener-ese for spring, you know, when the daylight grows longer and dormant plants start greening up, and most of all, when hopefulness takes root.
So let’s take this national day as a reminder that we’ll get through the coronavirus/Covid 19 pandemic, at least if we look after each other’s wellbeing. We at the Vegetable Project obviously have no idea when or at what cost. Our thoughts, surely like yours, are with our families and friends and colleagues and other people who make a difference in our lives. As gardeners, however, we have faith. And we act upon that faith with every seed that we plant. We know there will be great days ahead.
So on National Spinach Day, it’s worth saying that we are so looking forward to getting with kids again, handling tiny seeds, seeing life spring from them, and everything else that can squeeze under the banner of creating hands-on learning opportunities. Until then, we hope you will stay safe and in good health.
And thanks to everyone who ordered the seeds pictured here in our 10th annual seed sale fundraiser. We’ll get them to you shortly.
–Bill Stoneman
