If I could just be perfect in every way, I would be really, truly happy. But in the meantime, I would settle for having a green thumb. My husband has a green thumb (and he doesn't even care), my mom has a green thumb, my grandpa had a green thumb - he even grew his own grapes to make his own wine and had a whole plant room right in the house. I always liked going in there. It was like entering a foreign land, with vines and cacti and the smell of hot peppers...
So for the last 4 or 5 years I have been trying desperately to learn how to garden. It may be the constant reminders from our church about the importance of provident living, or the 9 million ads and articles about sustainable living, or maybe it is just who I am, but I really want to grow my own food. Flowers too, of course.
Over the years I have gathered enough advice (good and bad) to put together my own gardening book, but I am still not a success. I have had a few good crops here and there, but it's been hit and miss at best. At times I have sat in my garden and cried with frustration over plants that just wouldn't grow, soaker hoses that had burst into geysers, mildew on squash leaves, holes in tomato leaves, dry ground, flooded ground, too much or too little sun...
But this year, I think I have finally learned. I am expecting nothing, hoping for the best and experimenting however I want... expandable peat pots here I come!
3 comments:
That's why I let Adam do the veggie growing. He's getting better at the square foot gardening. I prefer planting flowers. I could plant a million flowers every year and be in heaven. Too back you can't eat those! (Except for dandelions, which grace our yard every year - how considerate of them. I had never even considered that they were just trying to be food storage for us!)
I know I am supposed to be really good at growing my own food, but I am also challenged. How are you supposed to teach your children to love gardening when you swear at the rocks and can't get anything to grow? It's so frustrating I think I have finally given up. Even the WSU master gardeners can't help me.
Ally, maybe you would have more success if you removed the rocks and planted some seeds, although swearing at rocks sounds like a perfectly good option too...
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