Do you garden? It's free therapy, you know, with the added benefit of occasionally being able to eat your therapist. It's really, really hard to be in a bad mood while working in a garden - and trust me, I'm really, really good at being in a bad mood. There's a quiet intensity required when doing garden work, an intensity that greets the gardener as knees touch ground. Planting seeds, weeding, cultivating, deadheading - every task in a garden is done with purpose and care, and in so doing the world, and it's troubles, are left behind.
Wweeellllllll, I don't know about that. I've had plenty of "experiments" end up looking an awful lot like mistakes. I was asked the other day, I believe by Daughter Three, if I have green thumbs. No, no I do not. They're shading a bit more green every year, but I am far from Master Gardener status. Another perk of gardening, though, is the freedom from judgement by that which is tended. Your tomato plants won't start wagging a leaf at you because you plant them too close together - they just quietly sit there, crowded and stunted, and produce nothing to eat. Go ahead, plant your bleeding hearts in full sun 'cause they won't say a word about it...they'll simply shrivel up and die. Garden, make mistakes, learn, try again next year. If only all things in life were so simple and stress free.
Uhhhhhh, no thank you? How about I tell you what I am, and you just imagine what my garden might look like?
On second thought, bring it. My gardens are thriving this year. My irises are in full bloom right now and look fantastic, especially so with the strawberry vines and blossoms peeking out among the leaves. My patio strawberry patch was loaded with blossom, which has now been replaced by green berries. My flower planter arrangements turned out pretty good. The rhubarb patch I started last year has produced several quarts of 'barb already. My tomato and pepper plants look terrific, so much so I can already taste the salsa. And so far I've stayed ahead of the weeds. So how about I tell you what I are? I am a semi-successful city-dwelling backyard gardener who grows (pun intended) a bit more confident each summer.
Gardening really is all about tomorrow, isn't it? This evening I spent a long time repotting house plants, which I've been meaning to do 'tomorrow' for weeks. I deadheaded petunias so they would look less bedraggled tomorrow. I moved a flower pot out from under the eave in anticipation of the rain tomorrow. Working with a veggie garden requires a belief in a very distant tomorrow, but the gist is the same. Gardening, tree planting, landscaping - all these activities are done today in the hopes of a better tomorrow. How noble.
Do you garden? It's never too late to start; how about you give it a try.......tomorrow.
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