Ashe Mountain Times

It's that time of the year again: the time to begin my futile battle with nature for possession of my vegetable garden. To be honest, it's my wife's garden, I mostly wander around in it cussing the weeds, rabbits and my brown thumbs.

I am the world's worst gardener. I know this about myself and you would think, as much as I hate failure, I would simply re-channel my energies into something more constructive than growing poor pitiful carrots that resemble corkscrews more than food. (I know, get the rocks out first, I know).

But somehow, every spring, something makes me try yet again. It could be that I am just a gluten for punishment, but I think it's because there is something simple and uncomplicated about gardening, even when you are terrible at it. Don't get me wrong, I do get some great stuff, but what we have gotten out of working our gardens over the years has been much more than the food.

That's why most of us backyard gardeners do it: for the stuff that you can't eat.

For me, it's an escape from the real world for a while that I get to make with my wife.

The simplicity of turning the ground over tilling in a little fertilizer, planting your seeds and letting nature take over gives you hope for a good harvest. The sweat and backaches of weeding and weeding and ... and weeding, keeps you humble by teaching you that you are not in charge - but just one important part of a larger purpose - when you do begin to see the fruits and vegetables of your labors you get a feeling of accomplishment, even with corkscrew carrots.

We do it because once in a while, there is that perfect day, with just the right temperature, cloud cover and just a slight breeze that makes standing in the center of your weed patch the only place on earth to be.

You know that's sort of like life in Ashe County; kind of simple and uncomplicated and full of promise. I have seen it from traveling all around the county and talking to the people who turn the ground of our communities, and the one ones who add the fertilizer. We plant the seeds we choose for how we want our home to grow and then have to fight the weeds that try to choke out those plans. If you look at it the right way, then you'll see that each of us, no matter what our job is, is one important part of a larger purpose and the fruits and vegetables of that garden are the successful businesses we can boast, it's the good quality schools we have with teachers who care about the sprouts they are teaching - and its those of you who do everything from helping to feed your neighbors and changing the tires on their cars to painting our story on canvas.

This week, the town of West Jefferson began turning a little ground by looking at ways to not only improve the look of downtown, but also to do it in a way that is responsible and timely. The improvements to come to town over the next several months will be the seeds. The harvest will come when the new businesses open and visitors return again and again.

I know from time to time I give the aldermen from West Jefferson a hard time, but this is a first good step in the right direction for future growth.

So this year, when you are out there working on your garden, think of one thing you can do to plant a seed for the future of our home - and commit to care for it. If we all do that, it will be a bountiful future for Ashe County.