Next Year’s Love

Summary

The author is preparing their strawberry garden for the next year, ensuring it is well-tended and ready for winter, while reflecting on the joy and peace the garden brings despite its imperfections.

Abstract

The article titled "Next Year’s Love" details the author's efforts in preparing their strawberry garden for the upcoming year. The author, Elin Melås, cherishes the garden as a source of pleasure and tranquility amidst the unfinished projects and the distractions of coffee, reading, and writing. With the approach of autumn, the author emphasizes the importance of caring for the strawberry plants, which are a prized feature of the garden, especially for their sweet June harvest. The preparation involves weeding, mowing, adding new soil, and planting strawberry babies alongside their parents. The author expresses gratitude for a strawberry bed built by their father and acknowledges the garden's role in providing energy rather than stress. The article also invites readers to explore more stories from "Weeds & Wildflowers" and suggests a Medium membership for unlimited access to such stories.

Opinions

The author values the garden as a source of joy and peace, considering it "perfectly imperfect."
Home-grown strawberries are highly valued by the author, described as a "highly valued treasure" and "the jewel in the garden."
The author believes in the importance of giving the strawberry garden extra attention and care, particularly in October, to ensure its health and productivity for the next year.
The author appreciates the help of their father in creating a dedicated strawberry bed, indicating a sense of family and shared passion for gardening.
The garden is seen as a sanctuary that should provide energy and not contribute to stress, even if all garden projects are not completed.
The author encourages readers to support writers by signing up for a Medium membership, hinting at the value of shared knowledge and stories within the gardening community.

Preparing my strawberry garden for 2022

Baby strawberry plant. Photo courtesy of Elin Melås.

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

I live in a house with a garden. The garden brings me both pleasure and peace of mind. There’s always some mess and unfinished projects since I’m too fond of drinking coffee, reading, and writing. My garden is perfectly imperfect.

In the garden, every season has its charm. Autumn is time for tidying, gathering seeds, and preparing. And enjoy the warm colors, rapid changes, and fresh air.

The winner of the garden championship

Home-grown strawberries in June are a highly valued treasure. They are so sweet and delicious. The jewel in the garden deserves good care, which means I have a job to do every October.

Left: This year’s love, fresh strawberries from our garden. Right: the author’s daughter, Marte, with a home-grown strawberry. The picture is shown with permission from Marte. Photo courtesy of Elin Melås.

Extra attention to the strawberries

To prepare for “next year’s love” in the strawberry garden, I gave it some TLC. I weeded, mowed, and added new soil. I carefully dug up the little strawberry babies and planted them next to their mothers. Otherwise, it will be a wilderness.

I’m so lucky to have a dad who made this strawberry bed for me. Don’t mind the two small plants at the bottom left. To increase the possibility of surviving the winter, they were temporarily placed next to the strawberries. Perfectly imperfect, right?

Strawberry bed, made by the author’s father. Photo courtesy of Elin Melås.

The tasks to prepare the garden for winter are lining up, but I’m pleased with all that gets done. At least my strawberry garden is ready for 2022. If I don’t find enough time to finish all the garden projects, it’s okay. After all, the garden should provide energy and not contribute to increased stress.

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