Monday, May 4, 2009

One is the loneliest number

I garden alone.

My wife is not interested and my children's gardening consists of them following me with their toy shovels or my trowels and digging out whatever I put in (actually my 5 year old does help me with useful tasks now and then).

But most of the time it's just me out there, muttering to the weeds and ground critters and crying silently as the grass "stickers" bury themselves into my flesh.

Sure, gardening time is great for introspection. The dirt and plants speak a very slow language that takes weeks and months so I have plenty of time to think.

Now and again though, company in the garden is nice. Like the Sunday before last, when my friend Tim came around just to chat. He sat and talked while I laid some garden fabric and planted some peppers on the ground. I took a break and we drove to a Starbucks nearby to see if they had any coffee grounds; then we sat at a Taco Bell for some food and drink.

That was nice.

Hey Tim, I finally used the wood you brought me to fence the square-foot-gardening beds!

4 comments:

  1. My daughter turned 6 and she is becoming a pretty helpful in the garden, but I wish sometimes a much smarter gardener lived next door who I could go to for advise and cuttings!

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  2. Oh yes, I can't wait for my boys to get a little older! He (the 5 year old) will ask if he can do something to help. I always find something for him to do and let him do it until he is bored with it, which is really quick!
    I agree about a knowledgeable neighbor. This is why gardening blogs are so important to me. Still, nothing beats having someone show you how it is done.

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  3. My 7 and 4 year old neices are enthusiastic to water plants and plant seeds whenever they're over. Maybe I'll enlist then for some caterpillar hunting as well. But for the most part, I garden alone. And I don't usually mind it. However, I've been gifting plants to friends and my garden enthusiasm is spreading. Maybe it won't be too lonely soon enough.

    Nice post. I like thinking the plants are teaching me something in their slow-growing plant langauge, too.

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  4. Van,
    Volumes could be written about what plants say to us and what we can learn if we only slow down to listen.
    Thanks for dropping by!

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