When my youngest daughter was a toddler, her favorite book was “In The Garden”. We read that book every night before going to sleep, sometimes multiple times. We read it so much that she and I memorized each page. The words are still implanted vividly on my brain. “In the garden, many fruits and vegetables are growing. The orange carrot grows in the ground. I pick it and I eat it. The blueberries grow on the bush. I pick them and I eat them. The red tomato grows on the vine. I pick it and I eat it.”
It was an unlikely favorite, considering we lived in a high rise building in the middle of a city and there were no gardens around for miles. But, who’s to say what speaks to us… She loved it and so every night we travelled together to that magical garden where many fruits and vegetables were growing.
Fast forward to today. We have a house and a backyard. And now we have what you might call a small garden. It’s almost exactly like the book described. Eerie.
Then again, perhaps not…
As of a couple of hours ago, last I checked, there were no fruits and vegetables growing in our garden. Make no mistake, the seeds are in the ground, the plants are sprouting and happily enjoying sunshine, but…there are NO fruits and vegetables.
In April I wrote a blog about starting a new hobby: gardening. An unlikely hobby for me, a city girl at heart, but one I thought I’d try on for size given my new suburban residence. The excitement of trying something new was palpable, and I dug right in, ready to get my hands dirty and learn some lessons along the way.
Today I am happy to report that after three months of watching and tending, the results are quite clear: complete and utter FAILURE!!! Well, that’s what it’s feeling like at the moment, but I am trying hard not to give in to the mental melodrama.
When something doesn’t go according to plan, it is certainly disappointing. Whatever our chosen pursuit, when we commit, we put in effort, blood and tears into making sure we succeed. I know I feel this way, and I am sure you do too.
But, what if despite our best efforts, we do not get the results that we desire? What if after you prep the ground, water the seeds, tend and support the plants as they grow, while shooing away wild animals whenever possible, you still come up short?
I guess then you are not the gardening type. QUIT. You have neither the skills not the natural ability to make it happen.
My little girl asked me the other day when we’ll be picking and eating the tomatoes from our garden, and I was tempted to say NEVER. But I caught myself just in time.
I don’t want to believe that story line. Instead, I’ll weave a different story. I’ll tell myself and my little girl that in our garden, many fruits and vegetables will be growing…NEXT YEAR.
For now, we’ll have to gather tomatoes, and some additional lessons, from a different garden. One that grows in a land that’s not too far away, just over the rainbow, in our grandmother’s back yard.
It was an unlikely favorite, considering we lived in a high rise building in the middle of a city and there were no gardens around for miles. But, who’s to say what speaks to us… She loved it and so every night we travelled together to that magical garden where many fruits and vegetables were growing.
Fast forward to today. We have a house and a backyard. And now we have what you might call a small garden. It’s almost exactly like the book described. Eerie.
Then again, perhaps not…
As of a couple of hours ago, last I checked, there were no fruits and vegetables growing in our garden. Make no mistake, the seeds are in the ground, the plants are sprouting and happily enjoying sunshine, but…there are NO fruits and vegetables.
In April I wrote a blog about starting a new hobby: gardening. An unlikely hobby for me, a city girl at heart, but one I thought I’d try on for size given my new suburban residence. The excitement of trying something new was palpable, and I dug right in, ready to get my hands dirty and learn some lessons along the way.
Today I am happy to report that after three months of watching and tending, the results are quite clear: complete and utter FAILURE!!! Well, that’s what it’s feeling like at the moment, but I am trying hard not to give in to the mental melodrama.
When something doesn’t go according to plan, it is certainly disappointing. Whatever our chosen pursuit, when we commit, we put in effort, blood and tears into making sure we succeed. I know I feel this way, and I am sure you do too.
But, what if despite our best efforts, we do not get the results that we desire? What if after you prep the ground, water the seeds, tend and support the plants as they grow, while shooing away wild animals whenever possible, you still come up short?
I guess then you are not the gardening type. QUIT. You have neither the skills not the natural ability to make it happen.
My little girl asked me the other day when we’ll be picking and eating the tomatoes from our garden, and I was tempted to say NEVER. But I caught myself just in time.
I don’t want to believe that story line. Instead, I’ll weave a different story. I’ll tell myself and my little girl that in our garden, many fruits and vegetables will be growing…NEXT YEAR.
For now, we’ll have to gather tomatoes, and some additional lessons, from a different garden. One that grows in a land that’s not too far away, just over the rainbow, in our grandmother’s back yard.
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