I was never much of a gardener until maybe 4 years ago, I became possessed with filling my back yard with cherry trees which required me to dig six big holes through several feet of non-porous glacial till while trying to recover from a bad case of whiplash incurred when my Jeep was rear ended while waiting out a red stop light.

Most people would have rented a rototiller or maybe an electric post hole digger, or if really determined to do it manually, used a pick axe to break through the hardpan, rocks, compacted grass roots. and lots o’ left over tree roots from several 70 foot pine trees taken out three years before since they were hazards waiting to happen during a windstorm.

Not many people with a bad, lingering case of whiplash would choose to dig those holes with only a shovel.  But – I did (think The Goo Goo Dolls in “Iris“ …. “Yeah you  bleed just to know you’re alive…”).

I learned some key life lessons from – and while – digging those holes for the Rainier, Lapin and Montmorency cherry trees I planted that spring, which stay with me year round, long past gardening season:

Digging through glacial till and hardpan is pretty miserable but at the same time, oddly fulfilling since results literally pile up in front of you;

Whenever you hit clay soil or rock you can’t dislodge, go at it from a different angle; eventually you will win;

Sometimes while gardening I think about life, work, today, and tomorrow; but sometimes I just mindlessly garden; but I usually get more done when I think while gardening, mainly because if I garden while thinking things through, it causes me to move at a quicker pace.

Four summers later – the trees are doing well.  The Rainiers need to be polinated by the Montmorency’s but the bees who do that didn’t show up until late July so this wasn’t a great summer for cherries at my house.  Last summer was great.  Rainier cherries are my favorite,  and my dogs love the Montmorencys – go figure.

That same summer I also planted a peach tree – which is doing amazingly well - so please do ping me in the next few days if you want some home grown organic peaches… ;)

And – in case you’re interested – here are several covers of the Goo Goo Doll’s song, Iris:

Matchbox Twenty Iris (Goo Goo Dolls Cover)

New Found Glory Iris (Goo Goo Dolls Cover)