I’ve always loved to garden, and I hope that I always will be able to keep it up. It’s not just the joy of seeing new shoots in the spring, it’s watching the bones of the garden appear in the winter, catching a falling leaf in the fall. Harvesting veggies in the summer.
I have hazy childhood memories of wooden rulers laid on soft dirt, dusty strings tied between wooden stakes marking rows, dried hard yellow corn kernels pushed into the soil at the 6 inch mark, dirty fingertips, red metal trowel with the holes in the handle.
Building my first water feature at 8 with turquoise tobacco tins, and a favourite gummy pink skipping rope. Wondering how to make the water stay longer in the porous soil as it quickly disappeared each time.
My teenaged attempt at a building a haphazard lean-to greenhouse constructed out of old plastic tarps, and two by fours, with huge black ants undeterred by my creativity, carving out their own highway running along the fence top. My Mom told me the neighbours complained, but I doubt it… it was just ugly.
A corner garden so densely planted the weeds never had a chance, it produced more then just a abundance of fresh vegetables. It helped set the stage to sell our house on a golden, long shadowed summer evening. The prospective owners falling in love with the romantic sight of our orange tabby sunny herself in between rows of lime green lettuce.
Lessons my garden has taught me, some hard, some easy to learn, all of them valuable to me.
- The sense of loss when a cherished plant doesn’t make it through the winter will be tempered by the joy of welcoming back those that did. Winter like life is unpredictable, make the most of it while you have it.
- Learn to be patient, things will grow, despite the harsher climate up here, good things take time.
- Soil is the most important thing in your garden, if it’s poor, nothing will flourish. Spend your money, and your time and effort on that first, all else will come from it.
- Buy the best tools you can afford, as in life, you get what you pay for, quality is priceless compared to cheap, and short lived.
- The best plants are those gifted to you by another gardener. A piece of their heart is in the roots, the soil is infused with good memories as the plant thrives.
Not to put off until tomorrow that which I should have done today.
I learned from experience that young weeds are easier to pull, and will come out easier after a rain. Those old adages do have strength in our modern times. Crushed up egg shells will add calcium to a tomato plant, resulting in better fruit, and when sprinkled on the top of the soil deter slugs and snails. Wear garden gloves, wash your hands, and your veggies before you eat them, soil has pathogens in it that can make you sick, where did you think manure comes from? Get a tetanus shot, and a booster every 10 years, it’s one of the nastiest diseases around why take that chance. They don’t call it lockjaw for nothing. The list is longer then the 5 lessons I’ve learned, it’s like a garden, always growing. If you have a good hint, or lesson that you have learned from your garden, be sure to mention them in your comments.