Quote of the Day
“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”
My parents are avid gardeners, so I grew up in the garden. However, I’ve heard many people my age and younger, wishing their parents had taught them how to garden and grow veggies. It seems like growing plants, particularly food should be a skill that every child learns. Perhaps the skill will never be used, but at least if a need arises they have the knowledge.
Do you think we as a society have forgotten ourselves because many of us no longer garden? Do you feel like you’re more connected with your roots because you garden?
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Playing in the Dirt
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up
until your back gets used to it.
~Author Unknown
This past week I’ve been putting in a new flowerbed in the front yard. I’m liberating about 100 square feet of lawn along with part of the woods on the side of the property. This bed is going to be about 8-10 feet wide by about 30 feet long. It’s going to be a beneficial border of native plants and flowers for the bees and humming birds. I’m also hoping to have a few spots to tuck in some herbs and veggies.
It sure is hard work digging up sapplings and tree roots along the edge of the woods. I don’t mind though, one of the things I like most about gardening is the manual labor. I like that I don’t have to worry about going to the gym to get my exercise, I get it in the front yard while doing something constructive. It feels good knowing that all of my hard work will have a beautiful reward later this summer.
Do you like the manual labor of gardening? Or do you prefer the easier tasks?
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Quote of the Day: Frank Hubbard
In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it. ~Frank McKinney Hubbard
I thought this quote was very fitting as I sit and plan out my gardens for this coming season. I have spent many of my waking hours the last couple days working in the garden; I planted beets, peas and lettuce.
I know I will be really busy this summer with my ambitious gardening plans, but it keeps me out of trouble. And who really needs to sit down during the day anyways?
Are you anticipating a busy season this year? Do you plan on growing more food that last year?
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Liberating More Lawn
“But each spring…a gardening instinct, sure as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground.” — Lewis Gantt
With the coming of spring I’m planning out my gardens and inevitably I don’t have space to grow everything I want to grow. So I keep eying different areas of my yard wondering what I could convert to growing space. I’m considering bringing the lawn in from the edges of the property in the front yard by 4-5 feet on each side, that would give me a good 500-600 sq ft of growing area on one side and 200-300 on the other. One side is bordered by an empty wooded lot, so I wouldn’t have to worry about neighbors, but the tree roots pose a bit of a problem.
The other side is behind a fence, I cleared the area of saplings last summer but never planted anything there. I’m thinking both of these spot are prime for tomatoes and other full-sun vegetables. I could also expand our front flowerbed in from the road some more and that would also add a few hundred square feet of growing space. In one of these areas I’d like to grow a lot of flowers like zinnias, cleome and globe amaranth for the bees and other beneficial insects. I also would like to put a 1-2 foot wide flowerbed by the rock wall that flanks our driveway, that would be lovely with a big row of lavender.
Whatever I decide it’s going to be a lot of back building work digging it all up (you remember our rocky soil), but it will be worth it in the end.
Are you thinking of liberating any of your lawn to expand your veggie beds this year?
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Quote of the Day: W.E. Johns
One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides.
~W.E. Johns, The Passing Show
As my seed packets pile up and my seedlings grow taller, I’m anticipating great bounty for my table and pantry from my gardens.
What are you anticipating most about coming gardening season?
