Tending the Garden

Gardener, Know thy soil!

Gardener - n. one who tends to or cultivates a garden; one who maintains a garden created by a landscape designer

In over thirty years of planting, I've learned that the key to success with growing anything is understanding where your plants are putting their feet. 

But, that's not the first step. 

Initially, there are three questions the potential gardener must answer, or, as I like to call them, the Sacred 'W's -Why do you want to plant, Where is the space you wish to use, and What are you planting, anyway?

So, do you walk around in the yard one day and notice for the first time that there's a huge, empty spot in the back that might be good for something besides weeds? Maybe your family is expecting and you decide new eating habits are in order. Perhaps you live in the mountains and your yard is mostly slope and you're tired of erosion, and want to see what landscape options you have. Like many people, maybe you live in a small space in the city, and feel frustrated at the lack of space or food options, and don't know where to start growing or even how. Figure that out first, and the rest will come much easier. To see why people have started this upsurge of permaculture, organic gardening, rain gardens, victory and forest gardens, click here http://thecreatordeems.blogspot.com/2013/06/permawhat.html

Now you are ready to walk around your outdoor living space and see what options you have. Note to self: any plant that bears edible food will require lots of sun. Duh. Like 60, 90-120 days of growing time on average. You can expect the plants to require direct sunlight 50-75% of that growing time, with an average of  8 to 12 hours of sunlight a day. 

Well, you may have a mostly shady spot, or live in the woods. You may have a nearby stream or no access to water. The ground might be rocky, sandy, red clay or rich, loamy soil. So, all of these things will have to be considered.  For ideas or how to use the space you have, click here ____.

At this point, you can consider what works best for your available space. The cool thing is that most of us have several 'zones' or areas for planting; indoors and out, full shade, part-sun, full sun so that there can be a variety of foliage in your overall space. If you'd like to learn more about how sunlight conditions affect different plants, click here ____.

 Many people, especially in the world of business, hire a garden/landscape designer or landscape architect to put the three 'W's together in an aesthetically pleasing and eco-friendly plan that gets the client the best garden possible for his/her budget. Other folks, who mean well, but really haven't studied horticulture or have any real field experience ramble about at garden centers, Southern States or the big box stores and pick out some plants they like, for whatever reason, then bring the purchases home and stick them in the ground. These same folks wring their hands, and wonder why a couple of weeks later that, " I don't have any luck with plants. I can't get anything to grow."

Developing our higher self, or spiritual self is done in much the same way. You could say that the Divine Creator is the garden/landscape designer, and we each become the gardener of our physical and spiritual development. 

Some of us read all sorts of materials on world religion, spirituality, the metaphysical, self-help, discovering inner peace, connecting to the Higher Self, etc. Others of us learn by watching those with more experience; either by studying with a mentor, joining a particular church, learning and studying a daily meditational or spiritual practice, listening to meditational music or books on tape, or just going within, to the silence.

Then there are the weekend warriors, those that are just too busy to devote regular time to personal growth and development, randomly seeking direction here and there when the mood strikes or something really 'bad' is going on in their immediate present moment.

How your life develops, and what bounty you reap, depends on your consistency, time allowed and the depth of attention paid to your belief system. How closely do you look at yourself, listening to the small voice in the quiet of the Higher Self for answers to how to meet your needs? How often do you thank those in your life for the services they provide, for the unconditional love they bestow, for the support given by even the simplest of human interactions? Do you hold hands as a family and pray over the food that is nourishing your bodies, giving thanks for the animals and plants that gave their lives that you might live, and the hands that put the food from farm to table?

What we give is what we get, and what we reap shall be sown, and as above, so below. Path Weaver was always telling us Red Fox Sisters that. I do my best to try and remember that. Sometimes I fail miserably.

This is the success of failure of the gardener. 

To really excel at gardening, to create a work of beauty, functionality and harvest the highest  plant yield, you have to get in the garden. That means every damn day, dude. Now, it is sometimes OK to take a day off here and there, but for the most part, you have to be present. 

You've done the research, picked out what will grow in the zone you picked out, your amended the soil, made those lovely raised beds or hoed the row, put the best seedlings in the ground or planted the best seeds, watered well. Now you're just going to walk away and leave it to chance? You are f'in crazy.

My 84 year old mother, God bless her, walks the rows, every day, putting her wrinkly, gnarled hands in the soil, crumbling the topsoil around the poking hypocotyl, talking to the cotyledons, sprinkling water around afterwards, mumbling something about the soil's too hard, I tilled while the ground was too wet, I didn't put enough space between the rows, the rows are crooked, I planted to early, too late, didn't add enough lime, put in too much Black Cow or mushroom compost, blaa, blaa, blaa. 

Nevermind that before I planted, I walked the space involved, chanting prayers, sprinkling tobacco or corn meal around the perimeter,thanking and  asking for permission from the Earth Mother, that the worms might come and live in this space especially, that the water would be adequate, that the sun would shine consistently, that the neighboring trees would not be cruel and overly shade the tomato plants this year, that the weather would be warm enough early on so that the seedlings would get a good start, that I wouldn't be tilling or breaking earth in a sacred spot that shouldn't be disturbed, and that the Creator would bless the work of my hands and the sweat of my brow. 

Nevermind that I talked to each seed or seedling while I held it in my hand before planting, and thanked it for giving its life to feed my family, for agreeing to share its nutrients and benefits that my boys might grow big and strong and their bellies full in the deep of winter, and that my mother could have the joy of watching how beautiful everything would grow by leaps and bounds from her gentle touch.

Nevermind that I'm left-handed and prone to do things a little crooked. Sigh...

Every day we walk the rows, scouting for an increase in pests before they take over the entire green bean rows, weeding in between the corn's knobby feet so their nutrients and water aren't leached by the straggly, stemmy unproductive varmits, stopping here and there with our garden tools to scratch the earth when its too hard from a vicious summer rain, or days of sun without release, poking fingers here and there in the cool rows to see if we need to hand water, checking leaves for tell-tale discoloration indicating nutrition deficiency or mold and rot. 

Every few weeks I have to "put it by", rolling between the rows with my big wheel cultivator, a hand pushed little plow that forces dirt back up on the side of the rows to help with erosion, mixing compost and manure that was side dressed several days ago, and semi broken down so the roots have better access to it after it's pushed closer to the plant.

We can't expect great results if we don't give great effort.

If I don't dedicate myself to several hours a day of reading on the latest healing modalities, scientific discoveries, listen to podcasts by the upcoming intuitive healers and holistic practitioners, how can I develop my craft? 

If I don't meditate, sit in practice several times a week, then how will I know when Creator is giving me guidance, and when it is the ego struggling to maintain its close minded grip?

Mary, how does your garden grow?