On Gardening

Apricot Blossoms in my Garden In the past six months I’ve become quite enamored with the art of gardening. Vegetables, flowers, bushes, trees, cacti & succulents.. if it grows I adore it. I might kill it, too. I try hard not to though.

Previous to moving to our current home we’ve lived in a series of rentals, all of which provided lawn services and lacked space for me to plant. The living space indoors was dark, so pretty much every houseplant I gained, I lost.

But here! Here I have great light indoors! Tons of land to plant! And; since I’m taking time off to get settled, care for my disabled parents, deal with my own health issues & regroup after coming to terms with my absolute disdain for corporate design & website development- previously my main source of business… gardening is my main source of entertainment & sense of accomplishment. (Was that ever a run-on sentence?! Ha.)

Anyhow, I feel the need to share my love for growing things with you, my non-existent readers. It’s awesome, guys!

For one thing, it’s been surprising to me just how easy it is to plant & grow my own food. I’ve yet to be successful at starting seeds- not that I’ve really tried; but our local gardening center has just about everything we can think of to plant already established and ready to grow. Young vegetable plants have proven to be affordable as well as hardy.

So far we’ve successfully grown & harvested: broccoli, cauliflower, green onions, celery, swiss chard, romaine lettuce, spinach and red leaf lettuce in quantity. The most surprising thing to me? The taste! If you haven’t had homegrown veggies, sans: pesticides, fungicides, wax, and fresh off the plant- you are seriously missing out! It’s unbelievable. I didn’t even like some of the previously listed veggies prior to growing them in my garden.

Another benefit of gardening has been a huge improvement in my health. The (mostly) light exercise has been great. I bend and stretch to pull weeds, plant, pluck. I walk the property to see what’s in bloom, what needs water, to look for a photo op. And cutting out all those chemicals, plus eating fresh? The changes in my diet have resulted in my pain levels dropping by around 80%. I’ve been able to go off some meds I had once relied on. I’m in a much better place than I have been in the two years since I began exhibiting MS symptoms.

The best thing about growing our own food, above all else? The kids are eating vegetables. Yes, you just read that right. My kids are eating vegetables. No war. No begging. No blackmail. They help grow them, and the veggies taste GOOD. So they value the vegetables we put on their plate, they are proud of them even. And they eat them, in quantities unheard of prior to starting our family garden. Seriously. Without ranch dressing. I swear.

For these reasons I am planning to write a little series of gardening articles for this blog. How to’s, based upon my ever-growing but yet limited knowledge.. product recommendations, etc. I hope that if you garden or are planning to garden that you’ll pop over and comment- let me know what you like! What you struggle with! What your questions are, what your heart sings when you plant and grow a living gift from the powers that be. I have so much yet to learn.. but I really feel the need to share what I do know with others because I’ve come to believe that “victory gardens” are more than a political statement or sign of the times. They are therapy. They are healthy. And they will change your life for the better.

February 20, 2010 · Filed Under Gardening, Inspiration, She's Crafty, Yammer

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My Little Indian Girl

The Littlun, originally uploaded by Phae.

The littlest of my brood has such a great personality: she’s adventurous, fearless, empathetic, has a funny personality & loves animals more than anything else. She wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up. She likes to dress up and have her hair done, but often I tell her she looks like a little Indian girl with her wild tresses and dirty knees!

*Disclaimer- before you decide my use of the word “Indian” is derogatory- I want to point out that we are in fact of native american ancestry! Among other things. Nothing wrong with being a mutt, I say.