Judge Neal Lemery Publishes New Book

            

Neal Lemery, retired Tillamook County Justice of the Peace, has published a new book. Homegrown Tomatoes: Essays and Musings From My Garden explores mentoring youth through gardening and other teaching opportunities.

“Growing young people is much like tending a garden,” Lemery says. “We can all make a difference in the lives of young people, helping them grow strong and self-confident.”

Judge Lemery will read from his book and offer his book for sale at the Five Rivers Coffee Roasters author panel and book fair in Tillamook November 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Homegrown Tomatoes is available on Amazon.com as an e-book and paperback.

 Lemery is the author of Mentoring Boys to Men: Climbing Their Own Mountains and is a volunteer mentor at the Tillamook campus of the Oregon Youth Authority. His book emphasizes community and enriching the lives of young men, by being present in their lives, and offering them support and emotional strength.

He offers us hope in troubled times, and helps answer the question: "What can I do to make a better world?"

“This new collection of short, powerful essays and poetry took me by surprise, nevertheless. I found myself moved to tears, uplifted, inspired, and even sometimes exalted as I read. I devoured HomegrownTomatoes in one sitting. These musings will inspire readers to look with new eyes at their own backyards and to dream of new ways to take action as peacemakers in our own communities.” says Rhonda Case, MA, Professor, College of the Redwoods.

A Sweet Review: Homegrown Tomatoes: Essays and Musings From My Garden

5.0 out of 5 stars

A Truly Transformative Book

By Rhonda on August 19, 2016

Format: Kindle Edition

Judge Lemery has written before about his work as mentor with young men incarcerated at the juvenile prison in the community where his family has been rooted for generations. I had previously read, appreciated, and recommended widely his "Mentoring Boys to Men: Climbing Their Own Mountains." 

This new collection of short, powerful essays and poetry took me by surprise, nevertheless. I found myself moved to tears, uplifted, inspired, and even sometimes exalted as I read. I devoured "Tomatoes" in one sitting. These musings will inspire readers to look with new eyes at their own backyards and to dream of new ways to take action as peacemakers in our own communities. 

Something of a soul brother to the philosopher, scientist, writer, gardener and mystic, Rudolf Steiner (founder of the Waldorf School movement and of biodynamic gardening) Lemery truly believes in the inherent goodness and limitless potential of each person he meets. He is certain of the value of education as key to unlocking that potential. He understands that Nature can be our wisest and most gentle teacher and healer. These things shine through from these pages even as they illumine the hearts and paths of the young men whom Lemery befriends. 

Lemery's essays, like the parables of Jesus, are grounded in the most "ordinary" of human experiences: observations of plants and of birds, simple gestures of kindness offered to those who have been left wounded on the margins of life, zen-like questions about what we truly value. 

The most powerful essays are those where Lemery lets us enter his "secret garden" at the OYA. We are privileged to be there with him as he cooks, gardens, plays cards, laughs and sometimes cries with --but most of all listens to -- these young men, some of them serving long years in prison for offenses committed as juveniles. 

We are allowed to share Lemery's sorrow at how much betrayal, neglect and suffering too many children endure. And then we discover with him that seeds of Hope are miraculously still present, even in the dark, cold winter soil of these lives -- just waiting for the warmth of kind attention and rays of compassion in order to grow and to reach for the Light. 

This book encourages us to remember that we can each create something beautiful, something that will nourish others and ourselves, through the work of our own hands, provided we value and sharpen our unique gifts that are our "garden tools."

Highly recommended for teens, teachers, counselors, parents, social workers, book groups...and, of course, gardeners!

Homegrown Tomatoes is available as an e-book from Amazon

Taking A Moment To Be Still

                                 Taking A Moment To Be Still

                                                               --by Neal Lemery

            It was unusual for me, just sitting there in my garden, being still and looking around.

            I’d had a long session with the trowel, the weed eater, and my hand pruners, attacking the weeds, setting out some plants, and generally tidying up my shade garden. Sweaty, dirty and tired, I found a chair and a bottle of water and decided to catch my breath.

            At first, I looked at what I’d done, and what I needed to do, mentally composing additions to my “to do” list. 

            This is becoming a job, I thought.  Gardening is a lot of work, and I’d tired.

            Maybe I should just take a moment and enjoy all of this, my own quiet corner of the world. I could let the sweat dry, thinking its OK that I just take a break.

            Lately, when I’ve been reading about gardening, I’m nose deep into the science and the methodologies about how to grow the best of whatever is involved in my latest garden project. 

In the midst of research on an interesting new plant, I’d come across a quote about gardening and my soul. 

“It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”

― Ray Bradbury

            Take a moment, take a breath, and enjoy the garden for what it is, I reminded myself.  Too often, my time here becomes an obligation, a project.  Hurry up, get it done, and move on to the next task.

            But, I am a gardener, not a laborer.  Gardening really is nurturing, and being IN the garden.  It is a time to nurture this place and my soul, to find peace, to let my mind be still and just BE.  After all, I am a human being, not a human doing. 

            And, so I became still, and sat there.  A swallow was building a nest in the new birdhouse, a hummingbird was enjoying the honeysuckle in bloom, sunlight played on the rhododendron bursting out in full glory.  I breathed in the fresh air, and all the smells of spring. 

            In the distance, a neighbor was mowing her lawn, and a farmer was tilling his field.  Off in the forest, a logger’s chainsaw provided the bass line for the house finch’s serenade in the snowball bush. 

            The real beauty in the garden, I realized, was not all the work I’d done, though I certainly had provided some tidying up and structure to this little piece of paradise.  But, I realized, the real joy in this place is all the creatures and plants that make this their home. 

            I’m only the host, and I only add a few of the finishing touches. 

            And, I realized, the most important part of my job here, as a gardener, is to sit in a chair, and just be here, finding my own peace, and be part of this magnificent paradise, to simply be in this moment.

            5/16/16

Pruning Time

                                                

            The days are growing a little longer, and I contemplate the coming of spring, with its promise of new growth, new beginnings, and, with work, an abundant harvest.

            A few days ago, the sun was out and it was time to prune my little apple orchard.  With newly sharpened and oiled pruners, I ventured out, soon shedding my sweatshirt and enjoying the physical work and the satisfaction of making the foundation for this year’s apple harvest.

            I pruned out the dead branches, the branches that crossed each other and rubbed in the wind, and the few limbs that were diseased.  Then I topped the scraggly branches that won’t produce fruit.  I didn’t hold back, pruning and cutting with vigor, as I shaped the orchard into tidiness, preparing the trees for a healthy summer of apple production.

            Where there was chaos, I brought order, and cleaned things up, making for a bountiful year in this corner of our land. 

            A nice pile of trimmings grew, bound for my friend, the fisherman, who welcomes my annual gift of apple wood for his smoker.  One man’s discards are another man’s treasure. 

            As I went about my work, I felt my shoulders twinge from this new work of muscles and joints, gone soft from an idle winter in the house watching the cold rain fall.  The sun felt warm on my pale skin, and I contemplated the smile of my friend as he thought of all the salmon he could smoke with my gift.

            There will be many gifts from all the pruning: healthier apple trees, more apple pie filling, apple butter, and cider for next winter, a springtime of trees loaded with pink blossoms, and a summer of vigorous, healthy trees growing a new crop of fruit. 

            My friend will do his own magic with the prunings, and create mouth-watering smoked fish, putting smiles on more faces. 

            There were other lessons in the pruning; how cutting back, taking out our dead and dying wood, and opening our branches to the bright sunshine will bring bigger, juicier fruit to our lives. 

            Old thoughts, and old ways of doing things need to be looked at, with newly sharpened pruners in my hand.  If I want a vigorous tree to grow, or a bountiful harvest, I need to think of the pruning that would move my life in the right direction.

            The young men in my life are pruning their orchards now, with newly sharpened tools and a fresh determination to transform their lives.  They are looking at their past, and their dreams, and finding the directions they want to go.  Dead wood and dis-ease are being cut away, and their trees are being reshaped and thinned.  Only the vigorous branches remain, with the promise of abundant and fertile blossoms to emerge in the springtime of their youth. 

            Old ways of thinking are being evaluated.  New paths and fresh thinking are being explored, and they are moving ahead; their minds always challenging and testing.  Boys are turning into healthy, thoughtful young men; the best type of crop to raise. 

            They are learning about their emotions, finding names for feelings and thoughts, figuring out how to live with themselves and with others as healthy young men, with clear, focused minds. 

I prune my apples every year.  I expect my young friends to find their pruners and tree saws, too, and also tend to their orchards. My task is to show them the way, teaching them to be good orchardists for their own lives. 

            It is a lifelong challenge, this living with one’s emotions and feelings.  Like good farmers, they tend their fields and pay attention to their crops, and weathering the storms that roll in, bringing new challenges and opportunities. 

            They say they learn from me, but I also learn from them.  Their courage and determination reinvigorates me, in my journey through this life.   They make me a better farmer, a better caretaker of my own orchard.  Because of them, my harvest is more abundant and sweeter. 

             

--Neal Lemery 1/29/2016