As the days get longer, and temperatures warm, it is time to plant a garden. Do you? Are you growing vegetables — or even flowers?
Share why if you wish.
Asking — and answering — life's interesting questions
As the days get longer, and temperatures warm, it is time to plant a garden. Do you? Are you growing vegetables — or even flowers?
Share why if you wish.
Many of my formative years were spent on a 4 acre farm in Iowa. We had a rather extensive garden, growing a wide variety of vegetables (and a few fruits as well). So I have been gardening from an early age.
Now, however, my wife and I don’t have much growing space where we live. Some summers we don’t do any gardening; others we do. Unfortunately, the soil isn’t great here either, so whatever gardening we do tends to be container gardening using potting soil or dirt from our compost bin.
Last summer, because of the pandemic, we had our largest garden yet. Watching things grow was a nice tonic to the dread from the disease.
I love gardening. And I love the real, good food that grows from soil I helped build. I especially love the numerous varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers I can grow because I use a diversity of heirloom and open-pollinated seeds. In fact, I’ve been known to have between 30 and 50 varieties of plant life vying for space in my raised beds as well as pots of various sizes placed throughout my backyard.
Here are some other reasons I love gardening:
imagination: When I step into my garden, I don’t only envision the harvests. My imagination also runs wild at the life forms around me. For instance, when a baby potato plant pops up through the soil, it reminds me of Oscar the Grouch. When a bean seedling casts off its protective shell, I think it looks like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. And I can’t help but see squash plants — from seedling to adulthood — as some sorts of alien creatures.
flying creatures feasting: I watch in wonder as bees and butterflies dance on my flowers for nectar while dispersing pollen and birds cast seeds from my towering sunflowers.
losing my sense of time: On a weekend morning, I can think I’m heading Into the garden for a short survey of what’s up. However, I may not make it back into the house until late afternoon or early evening. I often lose my sense of time as I both wonder at and work in my backyard patch.
mental health: I suffer from Anxiety (capitalization of the letter A intended). But when I enter my garden and start weeding, my stressors often melt away. Sometimes I talk softly to the ground, airing my woes. It accepts and absorbs my agitated state until my mood comes back to a healthier place.
taking pics: I love when my camera accompanies me into my garden plot. As my social media followers know, I love taking close-up shots of seedlings, stems, leaves, flowers, and vegetables. I’m amazed by plant life in all its stages. And I want to share this amazement with all who stop by my feeds to see what the plants are up to.