volunteers

a lot of people i talk to who know that i garden say that they don't because it's a lot of work.  i don't know if it is.  i suppose it all depends on how one goes about it and what one considers work.  i have spent many hours (days, weeks, months, years) in my gardens.  i don't think i've done much work.  i have planted trees and other perennials and sown some seeds.  i've built trellises and fences and dug and lined beds with wire to slow down the gophers.  i've researched plant varieties to see what might do well here.  i've hand-watered and mulched and set up a drip irrigation system.  i have been occupied in my gardens.  i haven't grown a single thing.  i don't know how to do that.  i do what i can to steward an environment that is favorable for the plants that i would like to see growing here but the plants grow on their own. 

last year's fallen seed left undisturbed, the january garden is full of volunteers: