Monday, March 30, 2020

Finding Solace

Gardening is my salvation right now, in the time of Covid. Watching each of my old friends in the backyard return from a winter’s sleep is both gratifying and comforting. Oh yeah, I remember you! Where are those Emperor Tulips I replenished last Fall? Aha, there you are! Now what is THAT?! are just some of the unspoken words in my brain as I survey the perimeter for the first time each new day. Turns out I have Bee Balm going rogue in three locations. But my Bobo Hydrangeas are late sleepers, even as the Limelight ones are bursting with fresh green leaf buds already.

Last weekend I transferred my hybrid tomato varieties from starter trays to three inch peat cups. They responded well, even when I didn’t manage to get all of the deepest roots out of the narrow bottom of each pocket. This weekend I attempted my Brandywine Pinks, which are heirlooms, and they are not responding quite as well. In fact, I’m purposely stalling before I head to the front porch enclosure to check on them, for fear the majority will still be flopped sideways in exasperation with my clumsy efforts. Never mind the jalapeños that have failed to sprout at all in two attempts. Peppers are notoriously difficult, I’m told.

The school community garden is coming along, thanks to a hardworking weekly volunteer who brought along his girlfriend this weekend, and thanks as always to the tireless PTA parent who has taken this garden on as her pet project for the six years that her two girls span at our school. We’ve prepared some areas that didn’t get planted at all last year, and we’re extending the flower bed along the front fence line. On our most recent visit we spent the entire two hours weeding between rows and along the opposite fence line. It’s a huge garden to plant and maintain. What were those Girl Scouts of 2010 thinking?!

In the end, I would be floundering without my gardening to ground me. Like teaching, or parenting, or so many other life pursuits, there is always more that could be done. It helps to be process-oriented and very, very patient.

1 comment:

  1. How wonderful that your school garden has been around for 10 years. But it doesn't surprise me that it was a Girl Scout project!

    ReplyDelete

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