Many who have reached retirement age feel they have come to the end of their trail. The future seems dark and uncertain.
When they are suddenly released from a job that has occupied 30 or 50 years of their lives, they are like a ship with anchors dragging and engines dead.
Some have a hobby to which they can devote their time and sustain a sufficient interest to save them from the depressing calm of an unmotivated existence. Thousands, however, have no goal, objective, or special interest.
Two and a half years ago, I was one of those men who had retired without definite plans. I had no well-tried hobby that I could ride away to a contented old age.
Since then, I have found several activities that have helped to take the place of my long-time job in the mining industry.
But the one that has given me the greatest satisfaction has done most to keep me pleasantly occupied has been my garden.
Versatility of Gardening
Gardening is a most flexible and accommodating vacation. It may mean only cultivating a small plot for flowers or a few favorite vegetables in a corner of one’s yard.
In a larger space, it may become a full-time occupation for the spring and summer months.
The growing season is short in our northern Minnesota climate, but our summer brings long hours of daylight that do much to compensate for its brevity.
We do most of our planting from May 20th to June 10th, beginning with peas, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, etc., followed by corn, beans, cucumbers, tomato plants, and others less resistant to cold nights.
Often, things seem to lag with discouraging apathy until early July. Then, they fairly leap ahead. Changing from one day to the next is like watching a moving picture.
We shall have enough vegetables from our garden to supply our table, with a reserve for canning and deep freeze. There will also be some for friends and neighbors.
Even though one may have quite definite physical limitations, one may have a garden adapted to his strength.
Lack of previous experience need not deter him. Instructions are simple, and there are always those who will extend kindly advice.
I have consulted our county farm agent frequently, and he is invariably helpful. I can assure the man who approaches gardening hesitantly that it will furnish him with many hours of pleasant recreation with fresh surprises every day.
Joy of Watching Plants Grow
There are days of suspense while waiting for the first signs of life after planting as peas, onions, beans, corn, and all the others follow each other in quick succession. First, only a few seeds have broken through the soil, reaching toward the sun.
In a day or two, the entire row, green and straight (if it has been planted “online”), has appeared.
Almost before he realizes it, the earlier plantings are blossoming. After the blossoms, pea pods and little string beans arrive at an almost miraculous speed. One day, you look for them in vain.
The next, they are there in dozens. You watch the thin pods gradually fill out as the peas develop. Beans grow to table size. Corn shows tassels and then the silk of forming ears.
Storage and Preservation of Garden Produce
One day, you are surprised by the first tiny green tomatoes. You count them as a miser does his gold: one, two, three, four. A few days later, they are coming so fast that you give up counting.
Instead, you follow with fascination as the green turns to yellow and the yellow to a beautiful red that tells you they are almost ripe.
No other tomatoes are as delicious as those fresh from your garden. You are thankful to our South American neighbor for their origin.
My wife concocts tomato juice by combining it with other flavoring vegetables. She makes quarts of it that we enjoy through the long winter.
I plant my squash seeds in small depressions instead of raised hills. When they come up, they seem to perch for days on the edge of their concave bed, like timid fledglings, poised on the edge of the mother bird’s nest, fearful of attempting that first trial flight.
Then, gaining courage and energy from the warm sunshine, they start to grow. Soon, they are rambling all over the garden. The blossoms come.
Little squash forms quickly. When fall arrives, plenty of fine, large squash suggests pies for Thanksgiving.
They, with broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and celery, are the last of our garden friends to surrender to frosts. They may be stored in a cool basement, canned or frozen for use through the winter.
Daily Surprises and Health Benefits
Each day, from early Spring to Fall, has its new surprise. Nature provides a fresh wonder for the gardener at his every visit.
None but the most lethargic can resist the lure of watching things grow, from seeds or young plants to matured vegetables.
A garden gives one enjoyment and sufficient exercise to make him appreciate his easy chair and bed at the end of the day.
It also helps materially to reduce the family food budget, an item not to be overlooked in these times of high prices. A garden is a perfect corrective if one’s waistline is inclined to expand.
If you are a retired man who feels lost, try a garden. You will be gratified by the renewed interest it will stimulate.
The hours you spend under the sun planting, cultivating, and pruning, helping things to grow, you will find the shortest and most beneficial of your day. This intimate contact with the “good earth” brings its reward in health, satisfaction, and contentment. Try it.
44659 by E. S. Tillinghast