Creative bird feeding 101 and other lessons
Yesterday afternoon during “school time” the girls and I went out in the garden and planted the last round of seeds for a while: radish, carrot, cornflower, wildflower, sun flower, corn, beans and marigolds. I’m a bit suspect that some of these will grow – last year the birds came and got much of it – but it’s worth a try.
The sweet peas though are already blooming. I had fun last fall planting a few packs and to make a paraphrase – “the early gardener gets the bloom”
Abigail, budding photographer, wanted to take a picture of the ones growing in her plat of the garden.
When looking at the sweet peas and the garden beside the garage, I had two realizations
I like order and plans. I like lettuce rising in rows and tomatoes tied to stakes. I like to know what is growing where.
I like spontaneity and unpredictability. I like to find the mysterious seedlings, ones we didn’t plant. I like to see the sweet peas spill out onto the concrete, the hot pink flowers bold against the hot driveway.
I like to plan how I can. But I also like that I’m not in control. I like life.
bee chive
I liked weeding my herb garden. My hands smelled nice afterwards. They smelled like lemon, mint and chive. Like lotion. I almost didn’t want to wash them.
It can be difficult to determine what is a weed and what is a wanted plant. As I told Abigail, we’ll let them grow up for a little while, and then we can tell. At the beginning, the “good” and “bad” can appear identical.
Aren’t we creative, hiding the food from the birds so they can find it? Ah, they have fun in our garden! If any of the corn grows, I will be amazed.
While planting the corn, I thought about people all over the world who plant corn. Men and women bending down to put kernels into the dirt. How little we have in common across cultures, across the globe. I know too that I am one of the fortunate ones: my garden is more for fun than for food. Yet planting seeds is something we all share. We put it in the ground and wait for it to grow. We are all at the mercy of the earth, the rain and sun. My girls and I are kneeling in the dirt on our piece of island, burying corn kernels with our fingers, and somewhere someone else in the world is covering a piece of corn too. It seems to tie us together as people: how we grow plants.
Tags: gardening
