On a mild February afternoon, the garden can open in narrow strips. Snow pulls back from the south side of a bed. The soil beneath it is dark and glossy, last autumn’s leaves are pressed flat, and a few small casts sit at the mouth of holes that were invisible the day before. The ground looks paused, but the evidence…
A pea seedling looks simple when it first breaks the soil. Two pale halves of a seed have done their work below, a green shoot has hooked upward, and the first tendrils begin searching for something to hold. From above, it is all freshness and appetite. From below, if you lift the plant carefully a few weeks later, there may…
