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WHAT CAUSES AN INTEREST IN GARDENING TO GERMINATE?
I'm sure my mother - a loyal reader of this column - could recall instances during my childhood when I balked at hoeing weeds, thinning carrots or picking beans.
Has there ever been a kid who liked these jobs?
Despite possible evidence to the contrary, my memories of gardens on our farm are positive. I thought of those gardens the other day as I pondered how a person's interest in gardening develops.
I suspect there's no single common thread - each of us was no doubt influenced by some slightly different set of factors that caused us to want to go out and dig in the soil each spring.
I've also puzzled over why I enjoy gardening while friends of mine with similar careers, lifestyles or hobbies exhibit no interest in gardening.
In my case, being raised on a farm was a natural precursor for gardening because each new season brought another cycle of growth of the farm crops we raised and the vegetables, flowers and trees we planted and harvested.
Our main garden on the farm began each fall or spring when Dad ran the 3-bottom plow through the one-tenth-acre plot, turning the soil to a depth of at least eight inches. After another pass with the field disk, the garden was ready for a hand raking and row preparation.
My uncle Vincent loved gardening - particularly flowers - and he was also an adult leader of the Silver Creek 4-H club. That meant we could count on his critical inspection each summer when the 4-H tour visited our farm to review our projects. There's something about 4-H tour that is a motivator for pulling a couple of extra weeds.
Like every kid ever born, I remember complaining about the mundane tasks of hoeing and weeding. But I remember more clearly and with more fondness the many fruits of our labor. Early each spring, the rhubarb would push through the ground in April and Mom would make terrific pies and cobblers. We savored the seasonal fruits: strawberries, raspberries, elderberries, currants, gooseberries, plums and chokecherries.
I remember the rows of lettuce, carrots, beans, peas and radishes that were eaten fresh during the growing season and canned for enjoyment in fall and winter. I looked forward to selecting ripe ears from the short rows of sweet corn in our garden; later, we decided it was a lot more efficient to plant sweet corn using one or two of the planter boxes of the field planter.
For 20 years, my wife and I and two children lived on a 40-ft. wide Minneapolis lot. The close quarters didn't permit the luxury of long rows of vegetables and rambling flowerbeds. Tight spaces taught me how to garden in containers, on trellises and in compact plots.
This period also taught me the value of paying for landscape design. I was capable of some basic plantings, but the professional landscape designer studied our space and inquired about our interests, likes and dislikes. Then he delighted us with a creative plan that combined perennials, shrubs, boulders and ornamental trees that made our cramped space very special.
I enrolled in the Master Gardener training program when my wife and I made a decision to build a new house on a wooded lot in the country. I knew the knowledge gained from the Master Gardener training would be valuable as I slowly and thoughtfully developed the excavated area around our new home into gardens.
Gardening, I've decided, is kind of like a terminal disease...once you've caught the bug, you've got it for life.
We play softball until our bodies complain at age 35 or 45 that it's time to place the glove on the shelf. Gardening, on the other hand, can reward us into our advanced years. My parents at age 85 are looking forward to another growing season where they can enjoy their perennials and annuals, along with strawberries, tomatoes and green lawn.
I like to garden because someone in my past took the time to whet my appetite and stir my imagination for the miracle that happens each year when we grow things or simply watch things grow.
As you launch into another growing season, think about children or friend with whom you can share this gift. Introduce them to the fragrance of the lilac, the miracle of new leaf buds, the delightful taste of peas popped out of the pod, and the mystery of underground roots.
And then sometime this spring, take a few minutes to sit on your deck and ponder how your passion for gardening originated.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
Gardening Wisdom, Wit
and Whimsy
$10 + $2 for shipping
by Cliff Johnson |
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