Joys of Gardening
What is it about gardening that makes us so happy and peaceful? My entire life I’ve always found spending time planting and caring for plants to be soothing for my soul. I can spend hours out in the sun, even in poor weather, but especially in the sun, tending to my garden and slowly watching it grow over time. It can be very rewarding. All I know is that it makes me feel good connecting with nature and I’m grateful to be able to appreciate it.
At least for those of us gardeners, from what I’ve experienced, it is not for everyone. In my heart I think it would good for everyone, but those that have not truly experienced the joys of gardening outdoors tend to avoid what they don’t know and stay within their comfort zone. For me, gardening is clearly one my comfort zones.
While I garden most of the year, I especially cherish gardening in the spring months. I’m sure this is true for most gardeners as spring is the time when the weather warms up, the plants and trees are starting to show the new growth. It’s the time of the year when changes to trees and plants are most noticeable. My gardening ritual comprises of putting on my favorite music, plant some plants, care for and water them. Then open up my favorite beer or wine, sit back and enjoy the day. There’s nothing better than sitting in your garden feeling the warm sun and breeze while watching the fruits of your labor grow. It can be quite magical and very rewarding.
When visiting my local nursery I’m like a happy drooling kid in a candy store.
I love going to my local nursery to shop for plants and things like gnomes, garden suns, or buddha statues for our garden. This time of the year, spring, I’m picking out the vegetable and herb starters for our vegetable garden. While we don’t have a huge space for gardening, any bit of vegetable gardening we are able to fit in is well worth it. There is nothing better than eating fresh picked tomatoes, squash, peas, chili peppers, or strawberries in your daily meals. Plus fresh herbs, they are so easy to grow and add so much fresh flavor to your homemade meals.
My other favorite section at the nursery is the succulents section. Living in Southern California you don’t want to have grass in your yard, it can be way too hot in our summer and fall months, and a huge waste of water. Instead we ripped out all our backyard lawn and planted a variety of succulents along with a few trees. At first it was very bare with little succulents in the dirt, but few years later it has become nicely overgrown and looks very natural. The best part is they are very heat tolerant and need very little watering, unlike a lawn.
The textures and patterns you get from having succulents is like watching natures living painting. Always evolving and growing to form new shapes and textures. Even after we filled up all our ground soil with succulents, trees, a fountain, vegetable, and herb garden I started to bring in large pots to place around the concrete areas of our yard. It helps to add life and texture around our home.
Even when I was living in an apartment, my little balcony was filled with potted plants growing local plants, seasonal vegetables, and herbs. With limited space I still found a way to bring nature into my life. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a lot of space, even around your door or by a window. Even a little bit of gardening can be very rewarding for your soul. Trust me.
Anyway, this week I planted our spring vegetable and herb garden by planting several tomato plants, three different squashes, persian cucumbers, corn, Habanero peppers, cilantro, marjoram, oregano, and strawberries. I’ll probably be picking up a few more veggie starters on my next nursery visit, but so far it’s a good start for the season.
So now that you’ve read this far, are you into gardening? What have you planted? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below and thanks for reading.
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