LESSONS FROM MY GARDEN

Spring beckons me to dig in the dirt.

I have been perusing the seed catalogs all winter and planning, dreaming and scheming about my summer vegetable and herb gardens. 

I am not a fancy gardener or one that likes to spend my days weeding and fussing. What I do love is watching my garden grow! 

lettuce

I like to spend time in the early morning hours,sometimes in my pajama's with a cup of coffee in hand, walking through the veggie garden getting my bare feet wet with morning dew. Pulling a weed here and there but mostly keeping track of the daily changes and growth in the garden. Armed with my camera, I am like a proud  mother at a child's recital... busy documenting the achievement of my vegetables and flowers!

eggplant blossom

Early morning is also the time for cutting and caring for flowers. I take a humble bushel basket with me to fill with flowers. I tend to personify everything... flowers included. They feel so honored to be picked, knowing that they will become a part of a simple arrangements indoors!

zinneas

You will find me out in my garden again in the evening... spending the best part of a summer day, that hour before dark, in my garden. It is like therapy. I might do a little more digging and weeding. I like to carry an old worn watering can and splash liquid joy on my plants! 

GARDEN PLANS 2012

 Here are my garden plans for the herb garden. I have a raised round bed that has a big Marten house on a pole in the middle. The space is not very large, but I like to pack my herbs and flowers closely together... not giving weeds a chance to grow.

herbs and marigolds

You can see that I use salvia, marigolds and nasturtiums along with my herbs. They give this garden beautiful color!

(Garden's are not to scale!)

Because mint does not play nicely with other plants ... it will crowd out everything else... it is an only child! I plant my mints in their own separate pots and sink them in the ground. To see a post on the planting and growing of mint click HERE.

Here is my veggie garden plan. My rhubarb is already up and looking so happy!

Bobby put in raised beds a few years ago. I love to plant them intensly and full!

We have 2 long beds and 4 smaller beds with a path all around.  This year I am adding an oak barrel planted with flowers and a big terracotta pot filled with extra herbs. 

last spring~  eggplants and marigolds (foreground), zucchini (background)

Every year I plant so many tomatoes and then can't keep up with them! This year I am only planting 6 plants.  

We (the veggies and I) would like to give a hearty welcome to leeks! They are new to the garden this year!

May you all... LIVE LONG AND PROSPER  (Vulcan salute)!

10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY GARDEN: Part 1

1. Given the right condition... everything grows!

Lesson: When things (people, too) are planted with a little care and nurture, they grow and thrive! We should always be growing!

2. It takes time for vegetables to reach their potential. 

Lesson: Tomatoes and other veggies need time to become there very best! It doesn't happen overnight. Same with people! We really do get better as we get older. Too bad, much of our society values a perfectly ripe tomato, but not the wrinkles and grey hair that is often the sign of human maturity!

3.Some vegetable varieties have been engineered over many years to be resistant to disease and pests that can stress and harm them. They are the happiest plants in the garden!

Lesson: There are many garden pests that spell doom for garden plants. Aphids, cucumber bugs and potato beetles are just a few! But some plants are resistant to them!  

We should acknowledge that there will always be pests in our lives too... and just move on! Don't let other steal your joy for life! We need to steal ourselves against the aphids, cucumber bugs and potato beetles in our lives!  Be like our happy resistant veggies... unaffected even though those pests are all around! Be kind, but don't give them a host! Don't worry... be happy!

4. Pruning gives things room to grow!

Lesson: OUCH!  It is almost painful to cut off a pretty trailing vine filled with buds... but sometimes too much of a good things is not really good for the overall well being of the plant! Pruning back vines and branches gives the plant more energy and room to grow. 

Same with people. When we get so busy and involved with too many activities and projects they suck the life out of our main purposes for living! They drag us down, make us tired and even sick. Lighten your load... prune and edit often! 

5. Tomato seeds produce tomato plants... ALWAYS!

Lesson: A tomato seed will always produce a tomato plant. The potential of the plant is always found in the seed!

We should not plant tomato seeds in our lives if we want to harvest corn! We need to look very carefully at the seeds we plant in our lives because we will ALWAYS reap what we sow... good or bad! ALWAYS!

Look for an upcoming garden post later this summer with the rest of the THINGS I HAVE LEARNED FROM MY GARDEN!

Remember to