A Green Good Time

                Recently I was talking (or texting, whatever) with my good friend Val.  We were discussing  her dislike (and by dislike I mean hate) for gardening.  In a moment of spontaneity I said I was going to write a counter blog professing my like (and by like I mean love) for all things growing in the ground, planter or other outdoor foliage receptacle.  Her blog was a delightful array of up close photos, an insect’s point of view on life.  It almost, almost made me feel bad for all the times I’ve sprayed things on my plants to get rid of the little creepies, but not quite.  I still spray. 

                I LOVE gardening.  I’m not always very good at it, but I don’t think that excelling at something and loving it are mutually exclusive (take my singing for instance).  In fact when it comes to indoor plants I suck at life, their life to be exact.  Those poor, poor potted plants.  I’m surprised I’m not haunted by peace lilies of years past.  Now come springtime on the other hand I rock it out, practically the Bruce Springsteen of the backyard.  You give me some sunshine and a few 5 bags of organic gardening soil and we’ve got ourselves a green good time.  I really love everything about it; the sunshine (minus the weird back tan that can occur between the shorts and shirt area, that’s not pretty), the dirt under the fingernails, the smell of cut grass, the flowers and all their glory, and of course the plants for eating (not smoking, this isn’t Michigan or California).  I would love to be able to tell you that I grow mostly food type plants for consumption, I don’t.  I grow whatever suits my fancy.  I’ve grown corn, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, dahlias, basil, parsley, pumpkins, sunflowers, etc.  Until the world goes all zombie apocalypse on me I figure there’s nothing wrong with a flower that just makes me smile or a pumpkin grown purely for Halloween purposes only.

soon to be slaughtered

flat leaf parsley

                 There are some obvious benefits to gardening.  If it’s food, it tastes good.  Buying organic heirloom seeds can allow you to grow the plants again the next season (just make sure you research how to collect and store the seeds.  Tomatoes are really fun, you get to grow mold in a glass on your counter, yummy.) which of course helps the pocket book at the grocery store.   A lot of herbs are perennial or can at the very least be dried and used all fall and winter long.  There are also lots of herbal remedies that are hardy; echinacea, or cone flower, is very common, comes back every year, and is used in a crap load of herbal cold remedies.  Sometimes it’s the weeds that are good for you too; nettles, while very annoying and painful at times to pull, are very nutritious and make a good tea.  Let's not leave out poison ivy, which is good for absolutely nothing but a very painful reaction in very uncomfortable places.  Just thought I'd throw that in there for good measure.  And lastly gardening is great exercise and being outside in the sunshine is good for the soul (and vitamin D).

patriotic clematis in full bloom

                At the end of the day for me the most satisfying part is just watching something grow, taking care of it from the time it’s just so small and helpless until it’s big and strong*; it’s like parenting on meth without any of the sleepless nights.  Plus its fun to tell people your clematis is blooming.  It just sounds catchy doesn’t it?  













*I can't explain why, maybe too much Dances with Wolves as a young girl, but I have a hard time not following 'big and strong' up with 'like bull' in a really overly Hollywood Native American accent.