Gardening
under my finger nails and into my soul
Gardening

As this time of year I am chomping at the bit to get out into the yard. Living on the west coast of BC, we are able to go out early and stay playing in the dirt. Several times a day, I go for a walkabout and just look and see. Hmmm, what is coming up, what is budding, and what should I move.

My fingernails are a mess and my back has a perpetual tenderness, but boy oh boy do I love gardening. That was one of the key reasons to make the move to the west coast – we can garden for at least 10 months of the year, longer if you have a greenhouse.

Each winter I think, ‘OK Susan, do not start too much in the house too early”. But when January rolls around I start cutting the ends off of store bought romaine lettuce and celery, and plunking them into water, just to watch them root. I start taking slips from house plants and make new babies – as if I need more house plants! It’s just the idea that there is something growing and a new life force in our home.

When my nephew went off to college and set up his apartment, there were two things that I felt were important. I sent him some of his auntie’s artwork and I encouraged him to go out and buy a house plant. Art and plants make a place feel like home.

When the sun is shining, it’s a struggle for me to staying indoors and get some computer work done as I would rather go outside and play in the yard. Well I can usually justify both. A little computer time, then a breather as I go outside, take Chace for a walk and have some play time.

Going for groceries this morning I grabbed a package of spinach seeds as I felt mine were getting old and hadn’t sprouted yet. The check out lady told me that she had already planted her onions and beets and the onions were starting to come up. What!!!! I went home in a panic, feeling that I was already behind in my planting. But then I remembered, It’s still only February. What I should have mentioned to my check out lady was that we were enjoying the bounty of our fall crop now with fresh kale, chard and spinach.

This is a subject that I could go on and on about. For now, I encourage everyone to take time each day, go outside, breath and just imagine what wonderful things are going to happen in the next few weeks. Watch as the tulips and daffodils bless us with their spring frolic. When you are planning your gardens this year, please think of being butterfly and bee friendly. The earth will thank you.