Spring gardening

I slowly crack open my left eye early Saturday morning hoping to discover bright sun streaming through my bedroom window. Unsure of the result, I raise my head to look at the alarm which reads 5:34 a.m. in blaringly bright red numbers. Too early for the sun to declare the day's options. I close my eyes in hope of continuing the race between Michael Caine in his Aston Martin and me in my Mini Cooper borrowed for my dream from the 1969 movie, "The Italian Job," that I fell asleep to the night before.

Disappointed that my disruption in sleep changed the classic Mini Cooper of my dream into a modern-day SUV being cut off by a Prius on my way to work, I wake up and look outside. The sun is out! I've been waiting for this day for the past month. A combination of 50 degrees and sun means I can work in my garden. Excited by the sun, I slip quietly into my jeans and T-shirt, careful not to wake my wife, and head out the door.

I start by surveying the land. Grass clippings placed on garden beds last fall need to be removed to examine the soil beneath. The pond needs drained and cleaned, dead leaves raked and bagged and perennials trimmed. I estimate five hours for the task and get to work.

Gardening nurtures my body and soul. When I'm stressed, the garden offers relief. I walk slowly through the beds examining the plants, picking weeds, trimming vines and eating herbs. Numerous rocks, chairs and benches are strategically placed to offer the option to sit and think - something I seldom gift myself during my workday - and the smell of rich soil stimulates something deep within my brain that makes me breathe more deeply and exhale slowly.

The garden is not just beneficial in offering my brain a break from daily stress but also burns calories. The simple task of weeding, dead-heading, nurturing, mulching and thinning, burns approximately 300 calories an hour off my 180-pound frame. This calorie burn is equivalent to one Grande Starbucks Cafe Latte made with whole milk (272 calories), a Snickers candy bar (273 calories) or 10 large carrots at 30 calories each. If I decide to mow my grass too, I will burn 364 calories in an hour. I'll eat to that.

Speaking of eating, the nutritional benefit of gardening is obvious. My family and friends still eat from last year's garden. Salsa, berries, apples, tomatoes and peppers have been dried, canned and frozen to offer last summer's flavors in the dead of winter. My freezer is full of lasagna, zucchini bread, huckleberries, blackberries, raspberries and wild game that offer healthy, pesticide and herbicide-free food to nourish our bodies.

The flavors and textures of the garden's bounty allow me to live and make me feel alive. A tomato picked fresh from the garden wrapped in a leaf of sweet basil sprinkled with sea salt satisfies my culinary palate better than any meal offered in any restaurant. My garden is my favorite restaurant.

Gardening is more than putting a seed in the ground and watching it grow. Gardening grows character. When one decides to grow food, the gardener must show perseverance, be patient, work hard, be a lifelong learner, give of his bounty and accept failure. Gardening makes a person whole.

Send comments or other suggestions to Bill Rutherford at bprutherford@hotmail.com.