a series of garden tour posts and a poem by wendell berry, "The Satisfactions of the Mad Farmer," dedicated to my friend C.R. as an apology and to D.Z.B. as a love letter.



"Growing weather, enough rain;
the cow's udder tight with milk;
the peach tree bent with its yield;
honey golden in the white comb;



the pastures deep in clover and grass,
enough, and more than enough;

the ground, new worked, moist
and yielding underfoot, the feet
comfortable in it as roots;



the early garden: potatoes, onions,
peas, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots,
radishes, marking their straight rows
with green, before the trees are leafed;



raspberries ripe and heavy amid their foliage,
currants shining red in clusters amid their foliage,
strawberries red ripe with the white
flowers still on the vines -- picked
with the dew on them, before breakfast;



grape clusters heavy under broad leaves,
powdery bloom on fruit black with sweetness
-- an ancient delight, delighting;