I was not born with a green thumb. If there is a green thumb gene, I can assure you that gene was not passed on to me. My parents are natural gardeners. They have gardened their entire lives. They are expert at it. I grew up with a huge vegetable garden in the backyard. Raspberries bushes grew up the back fence. And the flowers. The garden was flanked by beautiful flowers. The path from the front of the house to the backyard was like a mini jungle. Roses covered most of the front of our home. My mother was know for her beautiful roses in the neighbourhood.  And yes our home was filled with plants. If there was a window in the room, there would be plants. During the winter, most of the plants in pots were moved in doors. Now you would think that I would want to create the same in my own home because I was exposed to all that beauty!

The Joy of Gardening – according to my mom

My mother could never understand the distaste for gardening considered HER love for it. For her, gardening was and continues to be therapeutic. She would always make time to care for the garden and for all the plants in our home. My mother is amazing. She can grow almost anything just by taking a branch from a plant. She is a flower wizard. She can propagate almost any plant!

More time on my hands

I have led a very busy life. With so much to do and with so little time, I have been selective about my activities. Gardening was NEVER on my list. It was something I thought I MIGHT do during retirement.

Fast forward to the lock down.

Isolating with the family meant more free time on my hands. When you live with your elderly parents during the lock down, you really need to lock down. Indoors day and night. What a great relief it was to get outdoors. Now the backyard is probably 1/5 the size of my parents backyard – but it is a backyard and it does have a garden. If you can’t beat them, you need to join them. Well now I am hanging out in the garden with my parents and it is exciting to see the plants grow each day. Now I am still busy with work, but I am not THAT busy. I don’t ever want to be THAT busy again. It’s also a great way to bond with my parents.

Reasons why I love gardening

  1. No Internet access required– I don’t need internet access to interact with it. If the Internet goes down – I won’t freak out
  2. No devices required – I don’t need my mobile device near because there is not need. If my battery runs low or needs charging – I can still garden
  3. No desk/chair required – I don’t need to be chained to my desk and chair. I can walk around, and plant and prune. I can water my garden and I can hit the chaise lounge and relax
  4. No closed doors -I don’t need to stay indoors, in my office. I get to go outside and enjoy nature and the sunshine and even the rain
  5. No parental stress – When you live with your parents during the lock down, it can sometimes be stressful. With the garden, there is never any stress!

 

What’s in the garden?

Lettuce

Fresh lettuce from the garden. Does it get any better than this? We are already enjoying lettuce and need to wait for the rest of the vegetables to catch up.

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Peppers

I love peppers. I can’t wait to see the little pepper grow,

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Beans

Look at my beans! They are growing so quickly!

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Tomato Plants

My tiny tomato plants. We tried to grow our own plants from seeds but we were not successful. It was so difficult to find good tomato plants. Everyone is a gardener now!  If you are wondering what the blue sticks are – they are in place to support the tomato plants when they get too large to stay upright on their own. Don’t judge. They will grow – and I will create a blog post that displays my before and after pictures.

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Herbs

I love have herbs in the garden. Parsley and dill are our two favourite herbs. What are yours? If we don’t use all of the herbs, we pick them, wash them and then freeze for later.

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