Hugh being in med school has left me with surplus of spare time. So, I've become a gardener. A Master Gardener, actually. No, not really. That takes a long time. I'm like 1/52nd Master Gardener.
But, I have grown a lot of plants. Plants like basil (2 types), dill, mint (5 types), cilantro, parsley, lettuce (4 types), carrots, green onions, tomatoes (3 types), peppers (4 types), fennel, and about twelve types of flowers. I've been busy! Not learning to identify the 27 bones in the hand or anything, but I also don't come home smelling like formaldehyde.
I tend to have a short attention span when it comes to new projects (see: eight inch long scarf that I started knitting in 2008, half-sewn dress from 2009, the eight not-quite-completed redecorating projects around this house), so I didn't know if the gardening thing would stick (neither did Hugh, but being the supportive husband he is, he never actually vocalized that. But I could see it in his surprised excitement when I was still digging away in the dirt eight weeks later). However, watching your patio go from this:
This is what happens if you decide to experiment with "Survival of the Fittest" during GA's coldest winter ever and leave all your plants outside to fend for themselves. Everything dies.
to this:
in less than three months has proven to be addictive. So I persist, happily.
I tend to have a short attention span when it comes to new projects (see: eight inch long scarf that I started knitting in 2008, half-sewn dress from 2009, the eight not-quite-completed redecorating projects around this house), so I didn't know if the gardening thing would stick (neither did Hugh, but being the supportive husband he is, he never actually vocalized that. But I could see it in his surprised excitement when I was still digging away in the dirt eight weeks later). However, watching your patio go from this:
This is what happens if you decide to experiment with "Survival of the Fittest" during GA's coldest winter ever and leave all your plants outside to fend for themselves. Everything dies.to this:
to this:
Did you observant readers notice the new door to the porch? You can thank a rock that flew out of the lawnmower and shattered the old (much uglier) door for that beauty. And also Hugh, who has proven to be quite handy over these last 5.5 years.
to this(!):
Did you observant readers notice the new door to the porch? You can thank a rock that flew out of the lawnmower and shattered the old (much uglier) door for that beauty. And also Hugh, who has proven to be quite handy over these last 5.5 years.
in less than three months has proven to be addictive. So I persist, happily.
A word to the wise if you ever plan to start a garden of your own: if you plant nine heads of romaine lettuce and six heads of bibb lettuce at the same time, they will all be ready to eat at the same time. So you'd better be sure you like salad.
Happy gardening!
side note: My Mom has quite the green thumb and she has been a patient source of gardening wisdom. One such pearl of advice was to make sure I planted radishes. She said, "Oh, that's such a fun thing to plant because they are ready in a month and you can't mess them up. It's a great project to do when you have kids." Now, Hugh and I have no human children, but I love some instant gratification, so I was in. And then I was out. Because I failed. Apparently, I can grow an entire salad bar, unless you like radishes on your salad. I did, however, grow some really tall radish greens that eventually bloomed with pretty purple flowers.
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