Glorious Garlic

Like ranks of little green soldiers, the garlic is up and showing its colors on this beautiful spring morning in the North Country.  The last thing planted each fall, the garlic is also the first vegetable to sprout and grow in the spring.  It is living proof that the garden will go on despite the contrary weather of the last few weeks.  It takes a lot of faith and work to grow a good crop, but the rewards are both tangible and cerebral.  Just a few minutes of gazing at the long straight rows of green in an otherwise brown wasteland is enought to carry me for another day.  It is mornings like this that convince me the sweaty, hard work of gardening is worth the candle.  Spinach, zuchini, basil and even tomaatoes come and go, but the garlic goes on from one year to the next, as I select the best looking bulbs for replanting each fall help them fulfil their promise as the summer waxes.  It may sound corny, but garlic is the crop which more than any other makes you feel in tune with the rhythms of nature.