Mindfulness and allotments

I never thought there would be much joy in digging heavy soil on a hot August evening. It's not something I would choose to do, but being on a month's notice to improve our allotment or lose it, you see me down in the dirt on most evenings at present.

To begin with I resented having to do this hard labour. I'm stung by nettles, my back aches each evening and so far the one thing I noticed is that we can't exactly grow cucumbers.

But, I have to say that there is something strangely satisfying about simply clearing, digging and turning over soil. At the end of each session I can look back and see that I've made the plot a little bit better.

I'm hoping that at the end of the month, we'll get an all clear and have no uncertainty about the land for another year. But up to then, the only thing I can do is keep moving forward, keep improving, however slowly and to just enjoy the process.

After digging another section, I walk over to our potato bed and fork through what I assume is the section where the potato plants had either died or been eaten. And low and behold

Have a plan, be open to it failing, enjoy the actual process win or lose and be open to surprises.

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