I am a Gardener

Gardener: One who works in or tends a garden for pleasure or hire.



For the first time ever I've started to consider myself a gardener. I realized it the other day, when I had an half hour conversation with an acquaintance about amending soil and shade tolerant plants, and then came home and had a temper tantrum while watching the cabbage butterflies, my arch nemesis, flit around my yard.

It might seem strange I suppose, since I have this big, fancy, fenced in area, a shed and a few edibles at the end of each season, that I hadn't thought of myself as a gardener before now. I certainly spend enough time planning, caring for and reading about gardening, but it kind of snuck up on me. I never really intended to be a gardener it happened sort of by accident.

 I suspect my husband has known for a while now. He did build the garden boxes, fence and shed after all.

I think that because I never felt like I knew what I was doing and we never get enough to skip a trip to the farmers market or grocery store and because I never really took it too seriously, I didn't really count myself with all those out there who are so good at it. 

But, That conversation, the fact that I could have a conversation, with someone who considered themselves a gardener without sounding like a complete idiot, that is when I realized it. I started to notice how much I really love gardening and how much I have learned in the past few years. Maybe I do know a little, most learned through trial and error. Lots and lots of error.



There are so many who know so much more than I do, and my garden could never compare to most I've seen, but I'll make it official, not that anyone else cares or thought I wasn't but,

I am a gardener.



The photos

1. The view of my garden from my front porch where I love to sit and drink my tea.
2. Potato blossoms. Last year we did a small experiment with potatoes and it went well, this is the first time I've seen the flowers though.
3. Potatoes in the back cucumbers with radishes mixed in on the side, an attempt at some brassica plants, though that cabbage butterfly never lets me have any, and I think there are a few beets in there somewhere. The back corner growing over the fence is the hops that we planted last year
4. The hops are doing really well this year and we're excited about the idea of brewing from our homegrown harvest.
5. We decided to remove the bark mulch from the isles this year and plant an annual rye grass. It's supposed to nourish the soil and clippings can be use as mulch or compost.