Embrace Your Destiny: Escape to Gardening

Loleh's smile for Grandma

“Let’s try caladiums in the barrel pot out at the shed. Don’t they take shade?” When I’m feeling sad and still fatigued after family leave, I usually get busy doing something I really enjoy. Baby Loleh, Liz and Philippe brought lots of energy and fun for two nice weeks. They went home, leaving a big empty space here. While I don’t miss the meal planning and preparation, I do miss their company, especially Loleh’s special “Grandma” smile.

This time, the really enjoyable activity I want to do is planting our summer garden. I love everything about this pre-summer ritual. I have been pondering what I might plant for weeks. We only buy and plant herbs, vegetables and flowers that we know we can grow. We are done with tomatoes, beans, vines like cucumber and squash, and anything that gets wormy. We have limited space and scattered success with vegetables. To save ourselves angst, we plant what we know works. 

Whiskey barrel pot with caladiums

Our philosophy is to keep it simple.  We do pots on the patio, front porch and the tool shed. My kitchen garden is for picking and looking pretty. I have mostly herbs, seasonal greens and peppers. It must be good for cooking. Everything else we buy from local farmer’s markets. Cruising the various markets is fun too. I enjoy making up menus on the fly based on what I see that looks interesting.  I like to talk to the vendors about produce I don’t use often.

Shopping for the plants goes quickly. We know what we want, how many and colors. I always have to make substitutions and additions depending on what is available. For example, I wanted more lettuces, but it’s too late to plant them. But we found lots of pepper varieties. Peppers are fun to grow. Their bright colors and interesting shapes make the garden pretty. Their spicy flavors add interest to most dishes. 

Raised plant bed with Spring garden

Soil preparation and planting is a team effort. Donnie makes it easy by doing the hard work of dumping and mixing bags of soil and nutrients. Last year he built raised beds on both sides of the steps. Now, he thanks me for talking him into that project. That has made planting so much easier. After the soil is ready and the plants are out, I do the planting. He doesn’t like to do planting. He says it’s too tedious. 

 

 

 

I arrange and plant the plants. I love playing in the dirt and giving directions. Of course, I need help, “Donnie, I need more soil over here. This area feels thin. I don’t think it got enough organic matter either. I’ll rake it in if you will bring me some. Do we have any more marigolds we can put in this area? Where are the herbs? A parsley would look good here. This pot is ready for watering.”  I have a knee pad, gloves, trowel and small rake. I’m very stiff when I finish, but it’s a good feeling of accomplishment.

Yes, this is the perfect antidote to the despondency we felt when the children left. Next time we’ll figure something else out. Right now, I love creating my own magic place where I am feet away from just the right herbs I need for cooking. It’s a place where we enjoy the smells and colors everyday when we have lunch on the back porch. The birds and butterflies enjoy it too. They have a noontime feeding frenzy from the bird feeders. We feel like we are doing our little part to make the earth a better place. Making the garden is soothing to the soul. Harvesting and enjoying the garden is another reward we treasure all summer long.