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Gardening passion
Sep. 6th, 2010 08:38 amThe gardening community at LJ, aptly named simply "gardening" recently had a query asking why gardening is a passion, and also what is hated most about it. I really had to think about it -
I really love tending plants, they're such responsive and delightful living things that they tempt me to anthropomorphize them. It is immensely satisfying to see a plant thrive under my care, it gives accomplishment, a sense of being a good steward of the blessings I've been given, a sense of doing something right in the world. The scents of fresh soil, softened from a rain or a good sprinkling, the feel of cool, soft greenery brushing against me as I am up to my elbows in beach strawberries or peppermint or columbine, the delight of having the furry golden bees sipping the lavender beside me, lifting soft-leaved grapevines and peering into the green dappled shadows for grapes - how can it not lift the heart and soul?
I have several mature fruit trees, flowering shrubs and a good grape arbor and I from them I also gain a deep sense of carrying on loving something that someone else many years before me also loved. I tend their plant-children when they no longer can and wonder at the memories they must have had of these gnarled trees when they were light saplings. I rejoice over the first little plums from my baby greengage sapling and we mourn together after the squirrels steal them away. I use or give away all of the fruit, hating to see anything edible go to waste, and I love being able to both feed my family and feed others in need as well. Gardening is a passion that makes me eager to share what I have and to divide and multiply it until it overflows, which is a very fulfilling.
But what do I "hate" about it? There are certainly negatives - It is very hard work, and there are times when the digging and hauling is at the very edge of my physical strength. Dirt is so darn heavy! There are times when I have unpleasant chores like going out in the cold wind of February to cut back my grape vines, or hauling a hose up and down for hours at a time in August. Weeds are forever coming up and if I even pause in my ambling rounds that pull them up every time I go outside, they overwhelm their softer and shyer companions. Even so, I am hard pressed to think of anything strongly disliked enough to deserve the word "hate"... perhaps stinging nettles and clearing blackberry brambles...that's about it. Even then, it's worth it in the end.
Do you garden? Why do you and what are your loves and what do you put up with in spite of it?
I really love tending plants, they're such responsive and delightful living things that they tempt me to anthropomorphize them. It is immensely satisfying to see a plant thrive under my care, it gives accomplishment, a sense of being a good steward of the blessings I've been given, a sense of doing something right in the world. The scents of fresh soil, softened from a rain or a good sprinkling, the feel of cool, soft greenery brushing against me as I am up to my elbows in beach strawberries or peppermint or columbine, the delight of having the furry golden bees sipping the lavender beside me, lifting soft-leaved grapevines and peering into the green dappled shadows for grapes - how can it not lift the heart and soul?
I have several mature fruit trees, flowering shrubs and a good grape arbor and I from them I also gain a deep sense of carrying on loving something that someone else many years before me also loved. I tend their plant-children when they no longer can and wonder at the memories they must have had of these gnarled trees when they were light saplings. I rejoice over the first little plums from my baby greengage sapling and we mourn together after the squirrels steal them away. I use or give away all of the fruit, hating to see anything edible go to waste, and I love being able to both feed my family and feed others in need as well. Gardening is a passion that makes me eager to share what I have and to divide and multiply it until it overflows, which is a very fulfilling.
But what do I "hate" about it? There are certainly negatives - It is very hard work, and there are times when the digging and hauling is at the very edge of my physical strength. Dirt is so darn heavy! There are times when I have unpleasant chores like going out in the cold wind of February to cut back my grape vines, or hauling a hose up and down for hours at a time in August. Weeds are forever coming up and if I even pause in my ambling rounds that pull them up every time I go outside, they overwhelm their softer and shyer companions. Even so, I am hard pressed to think of anything strongly disliked enough to deserve the word "hate"... perhaps stinging nettles and clearing blackberry brambles...that's about it. Even then, it's worth it in the end.
Do you garden? Why do you and what are your loves and what do you put up with in spite of it?
