So, I am a bit late putting in a vegetable garden this year. Better late than never. Last year, I did not put in a garden at all as I was travelling for part of the summer. So, this year it was definitely time to get a few tomato plants in along with seeds for beans, peas, carrots, and some Japanese plant that I don't even know the name of!
I've always liked gardening. Even as a kid it was something that I liked to help my mom with. The house we had when I was a kid back in the late 1970's had an enormous lot and a huge garden. Looking back at the size of that garden, I am amazed by the amount of effort that my mom put into it. I thought about this today as I was creating rows and planting seeds in my tiny garden plot that is but a fraction of the garden that my mom used to plant. Squatting is hard on the legs and knees! I can't imaging how painful it must have been to prep and plant that old garden.
I also thought about my maternal grandparents. After they retired from working, they also had a very large garden - growing just about every vegetable that can be grown in a short Saskatchewan summer. They were award-winning gardeners. Their entire yard was immaculate. They would win awards and trophies from the Regina Horticultural Society. They were really hardcore. God forbid that you put a blade of grass out of place at their home!
I've never been that extreme. I do like my yard to look as nice as possible but I don't want to break my back doing it. I love the taste of fresh garden-grown vegetables in the fall. I like to see the plants develop. The exercise of working in the garden is good too (once the pain from squatting finally subsides).
Biology was one of my favourite classes in high school. To me the content of those biology classes was tangible. I had been helping out with plants from when I was a small child. Now I could understand exactly how those plants develop and grow. Does anyone remember what a "meristem" is?!
The one aspect of gardening though that has kept me away from it at times is insects. Grasshoppers in particular. We are occasionally prone to large infestations of grasshoppers in Saskatchewan, especially if we have had a dry year. For some reason I have a phobia towards these basically harmless creatures. I just find them unpleasant and unpredictable. I don't like them touching me. Hopefully with the rains that we have had recently, many of the grasshopper nymphs that have no doubt hatched have not survived. What a terrible thought!
Regardless, I am looking forward to seeing this late garden grow and hopefully I can get something out of it before the early frost comes in September.
Let the sun shine on!
I've always liked gardening. Even as a kid it was something that I liked to help my mom with. The house we had when I was a kid back in the late 1970's had an enormous lot and a huge garden. Looking back at the size of that garden, I am amazed by the amount of effort that my mom put into it. I thought about this today as I was creating rows and planting seeds in my tiny garden plot that is but a fraction of the garden that my mom used to plant. Squatting is hard on the legs and knees! I can't imaging how painful it must have been to prep and plant that old garden.
I also thought about my maternal grandparents. After they retired from working, they also had a very large garden - growing just about every vegetable that can be grown in a short Saskatchewan summer. They were award-winning gardeners. Their entire yard was immaculate. They would win awards and trophies from the Regina Horticultural Society. They were really hardcore. God forbid that you put a blade of grass out of place at their home!
I've never been that extreme. I do like my yard to look as nice as possible but I don't want to break my back doing it. I love the taste of fresh garden-grown vegetables in the fall. I like to see the plants develop. The exercise of working in the garden is good too (once the pain from squatting finally subsides).
Biology was one of my favourite classes in high school. To me the content of those biology classes was tangible. I had been helping out with plants from when I was a small child. Now I could understand exactly how those plants develop and grow. Does anyone remember what a "meristem" is?!
The one aspect of gardening though that has kept me away from it at times is insects. Grasshoppers in particular. We are occasionally prone to large infestations of grasshoppers in Saskatchewan, especially if we have had a dry year. For some reason I have a phobia towards these basically harmless creatures. I just find them unpleasant and unpredictable. I don't like them touching me. Hopefully with the rains that we have had recently, many of the grasshopper nymphs that have no doubt hatched have not survived. What a terrible thought!
Regardless, I am looking forward to seeing this late garden grow and hopefully I can get something out of it before the early frost comes in September.
Let the sun shine on!
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