Gardens…

I went to a garden club luncheon last week.  A morning affair hosted at a local winery near Celina and catered by a Mexican restaurant from Denison.

The speaker was a Master Gardener and I was quite taken with the idea of going back to college to study horticulture…

…just for a moment mind!

I really don’t have a green thumb.

My poor vegetable garden is proof of that.  It is not doing well at all,

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after several months I’m still watering dirt!

Daughts has an allotment on the same latitude just across the way that is thriving,

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tomatoes, lettuce, squash… you get my drift.

The difference between the two is remarkable!

She will bring me mixed greens and radishes,

“Here, have some we’ve got too much!” she’ll say as she leaves them on my table, then add with a smile, “I’m not bragging or anything.”

In March Hubs and I prepared our raised bed, we lined it with newspaper and added soil from the land and compost in bags, lots of it!

I planted the seedlings I’d been nurturing inside for several weeks and because the ground was warm enough I sowed some seeds too… to beef things up!

Everything upped and died, the lettuce sprouted and disappeared, the butternut squash yielded a measly flower and stopped growing, my snap peas expired on the trellis and many didn’t even break ground.

I was very disappointed.  For me planting seeds was probably one of the most boring things I’ve ever done, right up there with packing glass and china into boxes when we moved.

Maybe my negative vibes killed my potential produce…

I am an optimist though and I have started some more seeds in small containers and placed them in my herb garden to mature,

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Obviously my attitude was different the day I prepared this bed just outside my screened in porch!

Nasturtiums, sunflowers and Zinnia grown from seed look very healthy.

A splash of color along the front from purslane, an old favorite, and marigolds bought to brighten the house for Easter.

Sprawling lantana, lavender and mint were tiny housewarming gifts from last year that I coaxed along inside until transplanting them in April.

My citronellas have spread outwards and the hydrangea cuttings (mere twigs) given by a friend are thriving beneath their protection.

Dill (going crazy), cilantro, rosemary, thyme and oregano are feeling quite at home and when it rains, which it’s doing now, I can smell a heady blend of their different fragrances as I work at my desk on the patio.

There is a rogue lettuce that has provided our salad for the last week.  Neither mesclun nor arugula would grow over in the veggie patch but it seems to like the herbs.

Now that I can see how rewarding growing can be perhaps I’ll be a more positive gardener in future.

I always said to my children,

“Trying something new is always about trial and error, with a healthy dose of patience thrown in.”

Now I’m looking at my herbs and thinking about moving them around (like furniture in a room) to better balance the bed but Hubs tells me to leave well enough alone.

I did buy a large umbrella to cast shade because even if all my plants declare on their labels, ‘I love full sun’ I don’t think it really means full Texas sun!

Perhaps with common sense and gentle care I’ll develop a green thumb after all.

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