Our first harvest of the summer were three Italian green peppers. "They are great for grilling, as sides with a protein," noted our local organic farmer at the Saturday market down the street.
I brought them in and asked my wife, Jodi if we could use them in a meal this week.
As part of a digital declutter, Newport recommends that we find replacement of our technology habits by cultivating "high-quality alternatives to the easy distractions they provide" (p. 71).
My choice in leisure is gardening and general caretaking of our yard/grounds. Part of that is enjoying the literal fruits of our labor.
What's notable here is, at least on the surface, it seems like I did very little to be rewarded with this harvest.
  • I bought the Italian pepper plant at the local farmer's market.
  • I cleaned out a plant container and filled it with potting soil.
  • After planting it, I placed it into a warm sunny spot on our back deck.
But beneath the surface here, I am not appreciating what supports this easy act of leisure, including:
  • income to purchase the plant, pot, and soil,
  • the nice deck I have to restain every two years, and
  • the time away from work that I can devote to leisurely and lifeworthy tasks like this one.
I could have been busy checking in on my Twitter feed or habitual visiting my email inbox.
This is the trade-off right now: a life of leisure for less time online.