Many things bug me about this tough garden season, not the least of which are the yellow-and-green-striped beetles that skeletonized my cucumber plants. Then there are the other beetles that chewed up the zinnia starts and the rabbits nesting in the bean patch, not to mention the blazing heat that promises no fruit will set on the tomato plants.
I could go on. But to keep griping about the lack of moisture and the bloom of pests would discount the good that’s already come from my half-ruined garden.
The garlic harvest last week was abundant and the conversation I had with my neighbors while bunching the fragrant heads was sweet.
As I mulched against the hot weather the week before, I stopped to listen as music flowing from an open window across the street proved that my elementary-school friend Marco has become an excellent pianist.
And seeing a praying mantis, camoflaged the color of dry clay soil, made me turn off the mower for a moment. I paused to remember that even if I must start over with vegetables and flowers, the garden is as much about communion as it is about harvest.
Dana Coffield: 303-954-1954, dcoffield@denverpost.com and
