Gardener in Training- “little things around the yard”-

I don’t have a very ‘green thumb’. I don’t know about you; But I almost kill everything. I either over water or under water. The last two years I’ve been working on ‘little things’ around the yard; not taking on too much, just trying to train my senses to gardening.

When I say train my senses—I mean just that. It’s like cooking…sort of. You have to use your sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing (last year I could HEAR THE GRASSHOPPERS MUNCHING!); but they both require your presence if you want it to turn out well. With cooking some say it takes a little bit of emotion.  I think it’s that way with gardening,too. You’ve got to put some emotion into it. Otherwise—it becomes mundane and a chore! …and then you end up killing whatever it is you’re trying to grow!  

So I’m a gardener in training. I tend to show you lots of photos of  what’s growing. Usually, what’s growing well or easily. But there are other parts of my yard that aren’t growing so quickly, or as lush. It is the ‘little things’. Things I’m nurturing to get them to come along. Things that really, I have to wonder…if they are nurturing me!?!

Momma’s wash pot—The Honey planted Strawberries in it! I hope they do well. I’ve never grown Strawberries.

This is the front garden bed that did so well last year…it is getting a late start this year… not doing so well.

In the fore ground… a twig tomato stake. and a couple of Tomato plants underneath it. We started this from seed and had POP BOTTLES over the tops for a bit… but they’re finally coming along now.  In the back ground it is our second planting of SPINACH. Hoping it does better than the first…it all died. Something is eating it. The Honey sprayed it with Lemon Soap and water …to deter the bugs!

A true test of my patience- THE CENTURY PLANT. My Uncle came down before the New Year—around the Christmas holiday… He gave me this cutting of a Century Plant. It is a succulent and supposedly only blooms Once in a Century. We’ll see…well somebody will see. If your around in a century… come back and check it out!   It has grown since this picture was taken… it hasn’t grown a bunch. This bed had shrubs in it last year—the grasshoppers first ate them, then the heat cooked ‘em! I dug them out in the fall. Not much else is planted here.

Some things are easier than others- This is a little growth of Four-O’clocks… It gets to be quite big and quite bushy. The seeds look like BIG pepper corns… and drop all over the place. It reseeds it’s self quite well. I wish all the seeds would fall inside the bed instead of outside of it.  I don’t have to do much to it…(except protect it with rocks from the mower)…it just grows and has pretty Fuscia colored flowers. Guess what time it blooms?! Four O’clock – unless of course it’s ‘daylight savings’ time… and then it’s as confused as the rest of us!

The Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Phil 4:23