In preparation for the 2015 growing season, I purchased a new raised bed from a bulk shopping club. I determined that it is best to start small since I am working with my grandson and I am a novice gardener. I did the same thing with soapmaking and here I am, four years later, still making handcrafted soap from scratch and loving every minute of it. As I share my experiences through this blog, I hope to incorporate some of the results of our garden into our soap. While I am waiting for spring to decide if it is, indeed, ready to show itself I wanted to try something I saw in an article I was reading on-line. My family participates in a bi-weekly co-op whereby members can purchase fruit, vegetables, dry goods and other grocery items at a considerably reduced price. It is a wonderful opportunity and I must publicly thank my friend Kathi Kaltenbach for introducing me to this opportunity. I will be sharing more about the co-op in future blog posts.
Anyway, one of the produce items included last time was a stalk of celery. We use celery frequently and that which can not be used in a timely manner gets chopped and frozen for a quick addition to other dishes. I had seen a story about how easy it is to grow your own celery so I decided this would be a perfect first crop for the garden my grandson and I are planning for this year. After cutting the celery ribs from the stalk, leaving about 2 inches of the stub, I placed it in water in a glass container and set it on the windowsill. I was amazed at how quickly the celery began to take root and even more astonished at how soon it actually started growing leaves - remember, I am a fledgling gardener experiencing this with a soon to be 5 year old! Yesterday I had the opportunity to show Ryan our celery. He was certainly more excited that I was and was ready to rush right out to do some gardening. I explained how, unfortunately, it was still cold and that we will not be putting in any plants for at leas a couple of months. Whether he was able to grasp that concept of time or not I do not know but he seemed satisfied with my answer. I have posted a picture that I took of the celery at just a few days of growth and I will be keeping an online journal here so stay tuned and thank you for reading my blog. I have lived my home for over 20 years. I raised my children here. and spent a lot of time in our yard but I was not gardening. I was playing catch, wrestling or flying a kite. I have a row of peonies, which came with the house, and a rose bush that I believe died on several occasions. The house also came with a fence full of vines, some of which may be honeysuckle but I'm not quite sure. My plan for this blog is to really learn about the plants in my garden and continue to add to them.
About five years ago people started giving me plants for my yard. Some of the plants were from coworkers and some were from neighbors who were thinning their beds, others plants were just left on my porch; the last stop before the dumpster, probably. Some lived. Some were not so lucky. My neighbor and friend, Linda, has been a huge encouragement to my gardening experience. Her yard is beautiful. She has many evergreens, flowering plants and trees in her yard. She even received an award for her yard. I love being outside but I never really became serious about gardening until recently. Maybe it has something to do with my grandson. He loves watering the plants and he drags me around the yard to look at the new blooms and sprouts in the spring. He loves roses and he knows that thorns can stick his fingers. Perhaps enjoying the garden through his eyes is the reason I have taken such an interest in gardening. I look forward to sharing the new blooms with him. I can't wait for him to see what comes up next year! I know it's late in the gardening season to be talking about planting and such. However, my plan for this blog is to chronicle my experiences in my garden and I am looking forward to sharing it you. I hope you enjoy it! |
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