February 10, 2019
We had a snow day yesterday. All garden activities were canceled. It's hard to garden when you can't see it. It's a good time to sit in front of the fire reading seed catalogs. Anyone that knows the slightest thing about marketing quickly realizes these people are at the top of their game. They craft their descriptions in special wording that is as enchanting as the pictures are colorful..
Artist's and word smiths, they can make you want to try anything. My favorite is the dwarf tree that produces five different types of fruit. Who wouldn't want that? Have you ever seen one in anyone's yard or garden? No? Why not? My guess is they don't live very long. It may be they have special requirements that not everyone is aware of. If they were hearty, everyone would have one..
February 11, 2019
Another snowy day and I'm already missing colors. Black, white and gray may be all we need to survive but we tend to take for granted the uplifting psychological benefits of a vast arrey of colors and shades. Like our inability to verbalize the effects of music on our emotions, we pay scant attention to the colors in our world being able to lift our spirits. I remember after going through boot camp, where everything was olive green and khaki, that I became overwhelmed at a mall by all the colors (and girls)..
My brain went on sabbatical and I couldn't walk and talk at the same time. Springtime cheers us gardeners up because of the colorful additions to the environment and the warm sunshine returning life to the land. Sometimes we seem to go dormant in the winter like hibernating bears..
February 12, 2019
The snow has melted and I got to see my garden again. Dark brown compost, tan hay mulch and various shades of green plants. Simple but significant. I want to kneel and dig. I used to think the most valuable part of gardening was in the harvesting of healthy fruits and vegetables. Most of them are also free. After you pick the cost of the seeds, all the rest of the veggies are free..
I don't count the cost of water because we have a well. I also knew that the stretching and exercise of gardening was a significant health benefit. Now I'm beginning to realize that working with the birth, growth and dying of life's organisms tends to make you more conscious of the natural order of all life. All creatures have life itself as the purpose of life, except us humans, because we have imagination. For us life is the springboard for imagination to find purpose..
