“Lo, the winter is past, the rains are gone… the time for singing has come.” This centuries old bible quote reflects the attitude of millions over the ages. Spring has at long last arrived. Yeah!

The arrival also brings the mountains of garden chores to be done. The earth must be made ready for planting. The mulch must be removed from the garden beds to allow the soil to warm. The new sprouting cover crops must be turned under. The compost must be turned and sifted. The perennials must be lifted and divided.

Such work seems endless, but here at the farm it is done gladly and thankfully. for in every moment the wonder and mystery of nature unfolds. Not one leaf can be raked from a garden bed without revealing an earthworm or spider or some other tiny creature going about its spring chores. Robins gather remarkably close by, eyeing the bounty spread before them as a cover crop is turned under. As a piece of windblown cardboard is lifted, a wildly wriggling eft searches for new cover under a blossoming hepatica.

A dark cloud hides the warm spring sun and sends this gardener searching for the shirt he shed earlier. Its over by the compost and so is a robin, playing tug-o-war with a piece of string embedded in the soil. The robin prevails and I follow its flight to what may be its nest sight. I file that though away as I’m distracted by a commotion over by the leaf pile. A group of white throated sparrows are rustling amongst the leaves in their curious manner of leaping forward on both legs and immediately back again on both legs, throwing up leaves behind them. They look like they are doing the alley-cat at a wedding reception. This brings a smile and a chuckle and I feel good to be alive. Such is a spring day in the garden.

Such is the spirit of organic gardening. The work that could be burdensome and laborious is really satisfying and fulfilling, for it is in harmony with the natural order.

Spiritualists may call this being in tune with the Oneness of all creation. I haven’t a name for it, just a sense of belonging to all I see about me, and the garden is the place to feel it and experience it. It is in the garden where one can visualize the entire earth as a single living organism and we humans as just a minute part of it. It is in the garden that we can become more mindful of our actions toward the whole and realize that our survival depends on our ability to live in harmony with the whole, not in trying to dominate it.

Once we discover that we are only part of the process of nature, then we can learn our own inner nature from nature itself. The garden is the place to be and Spring is a most wonderful time to be there. The time for singing has come.