Gardening Grounds Me
May 14, 2009 by Bird
Filed under Blog, Good Stuff, In The Garden
It’s been a busy and disjointed time for me lately, too much living out of a backpack for one reason and another. One thing that’s helped no end is our garden; our little plot isn’t huge, but this year we’ve all got gardening fever and I’ve been so glad of the garden as a way to ground me when I am home.
We’ve cobbled together an eccentric bunch of containers to grow potatoes and carrots in, and it’s amazing how many generous people have donated seed. Home made compost, home made bottle cloches, pots recycled from last years annuals and our garden table is groaning under the weight of potted seedlings raised on high as protection from slugs. The courgettes we sowed in an old water container about six weeks ago are already in the ground and almost ready to flower; I’ve barely been able to keep up with their growth. Our potatoes, buried experimentally in tyres stacked up near the house are already showing promise. Jerusalem Artichokes have shot up like rockets, with a promise of cheerful sunflower blooms and tasty tubers for the pot.
We’ve got beans, we’ve got chilli peppers – we’ve got whatever random things we could easily cadge or lay our hands on, and the practical tasks of planting, watering, weeding and just getting my fingers into the sweet earth has been bliss.
I’d been hoping to photograph our little seedling babies right from the start – a little garden diary documenting their growth, but the growing season is already in full swing and most of them are seedlings no more. Still, my experiment of growing carrots in a window-box is in early days yet so perhaps the second wave of plantings will make good subjects.
We’re not just tending a vegetable patch though. The garden also contains a fascinating and totally unplanned selection of ornamentals, things planted by tenants long gone, self seeded annuals that have made their way over the fence broadcast by wind, birds or in the fur of cats and foxes, and there are the humble garden centre plants we couldn’t resist for their cheap and cheerful resilience. A friend who works for the council frequently brings us rescued municipal strays; when the bedding displays in the local park gets changed she rescues plants that would otherwise get thrown away, and our garden is home to many.
The loveliest things so far have been the native plants – Lungwort earlier in the spring has been overtaken by its handsome and showy relative Comfrey, and both have sung with bees from the opening of the first flower.
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I love gardening, but don’t have much of a garden, being in an apartment. I do grow things in pots though, and tending to those is very beneficial. And as you say, entirely grounding.
Whether it’s a window-box, houseplant or garden, its just lovely to tend something. I have a houseplant that’s been dragged across flatshares, bedsits and the like all over London, with lots of light, no light, scalding heat or none, it’s been there and seen it ALL with me for I don’t want to tell you how many years. I’d be gutted if that old friend ever died
That looks wonderful! You’re right, the garden is so grounding in both a literal and a spiritual sense. I find it to be very renewing.
I am behind schedule with my garden this year, mostly because we’ve had SO MUCH rain right when I’ve wanted to plant. I’m glad for the rain- we’ve needed it- but the timing could have been a tad better.
I do have a couple eggplants (aubergines, right?), a couple red sweet peppers (capsicums??), a handful of tomato plants, a random onion, cilantro, parsley and arugula. Waiting in the sidelines are rosemary, basil, cucumbers, collards, black-eye peas, yellow squash, watermelons and pumpkins. That’s all for my little plot here at home- at my in-laws’ property we’ve planted blueberries, sweet potatoes and tomatoes. I might get a handful of other things in. We are planning and preparing for a BIG garden there next year. It’s exciting!
You remind me: I need to post about my garden! Next day I dig I will be sure to use the camera!
Aubergines… check! (We tried to grow them once but the growing season isn’t long enough here without a greenhouse)
Red peppers… check!
And our courgettes are your zucchini, right?
Your garden sounds mouthwatering, so much exciting stuff! Ours is a little thrown together but doesn’t lack for willing hands or love. I’m so happy that we’ve decided to take it more seriously this year, it’s already made such a difference to how grounded I feel!
Hi there, Bird,
I love your post title! And, as always, your accounts of your goings-ons are so descriptive and practically put me right there in your backyard amongst the vegetables and flowers! And I love that you’ve applied your lifestyle of conserving and recycling to the garden…your tire container is so clever! And “adopting” all you can for your garden is just…great. Lots of lovin’ going on here for your garden! As always, your photos are beautiful…we’ll be looking forward to more pics as the garden progresses…yum!
)
Holly, thank you so much! I tried to make it read so that anyone could think “hey, why don’t I have a go” so if you felt you were right there with me while reading – well I’m chuffed to bits
Basically our garden is small, none of us has money and we are all into the idea of having a go anyway, kind of as proof of what you can do with nothing but enthusiasm and the kindness of strangers
It was always going to be eco friendly though, so even if we’d had more funds available I doubt we’d have done a single thing differently. I’ll be reporting more on our tyre potatoes if all goes well – it’s a permaculture technique for growing them 
So lovely that things are finding you and your garden, as if they can sense that it’s a warm and welcoming space. I think so many of us can appreciate what your garden does for your well being. Gosh, to think some people would look at a garden and just see green plants.
I love it when we find new things self seeded, pretty much anything is welcome if it isn’t invasive or too big, we’ve had many happy garden accidents that way. We even have a plum tree, presumably planted by the squirrel who steals our neighbours fruit
The bloke in the flat next to us enjoys the garden too but he’s a bit of a neatness nut and I’ve had to explain to him that enthusiastic weeding and mowing isn’t always the right thing. I think he gets it but old habits die hard. Seeing the garden as a place full of life and not a thing to be tamed is quite a challenge to lots of people I think.