Sometimes the most unexpected things come out of the garden. Take this magnificent squash. I didn’t plant this. Somehow a seed fell in the right spot and a squash vine began growing in an untended part of the garden this summer. Curious as to what kind of squash it might be, I let it grow, and now there are many ripening squash which will become many dishes through the fall months.

Few plants can match the vigor of squash vines. These are plants, that if you take too long a nap in the garden, may cover you completely by the time you wake up.

We were in Seattle a few days ago, and quiet, residential neighborhoods we used to frequent, where people lived in houses surrounded by spacious gardens, are now high rise apartments which take over entire city blocks. Stacks and stacks of boxy little apartments where thousands of people now live with no daily contact with nature or plants or animals living free. They’ll never experience the wonder of finding a big squash in an untended part of their garden.

Some claim that living in densely inhabited cities is better for the environment. The claim is that city dwellers use fewer resources per person living in densely populated neighborhoods. But it’s difficult to develop a caring attitude towards nature when you can’t touch it or feel it or smell it or taste it all the time.