Garden Stories
Garden.True.North is about gardening in Zone 4,
sharing thoughts, ideas and tips for all northern gardeners.
sharing thoughts, ideas and tips for all northern gardeners.
As I was locating photos for a project, it occurred to me that I have very few photos of me in the garden. My resolution this year is to take photos of everyday activities that are meaningful.
I have thousands of garden photos but the only photos with me in my own garden is with a fork digging garlic and of my hand with a pruner. Those certainly do not reflect the joys of gardening. The same is true for my crafting projects, just the item with no person in the frame. It’s as if these things materialize out of thin air. This must stop; I deserve to be recognized along with my creations. I suggest placing yourself and your loved ones in the midst of your gardens. Show the joys by getting down where the flowers and vegetables grow. Lean up against your favorite tree. Walk down that garden path. Need some ideas? I did an internet search with “photos of yourself in garden” and back came hundreds of ideas. I wrote a blog about the uses for garden photos a few years ago: 3 Uses for Garden Photos But it never occurred to me that photos should be more than practical when I wrote that article. I suggest here that you forget about the practical and go for the memories with you and those you care about also in the frame. You’ll thank yourself on those cold winter days in the future when looking through your photo collection.
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Those of you who know me well know that I am a lover of shoes (and boots). I believe a proper shoe or boot completes an outfit. As I am getting summer stuff put away and pulling out things for the next season I discovered that I have accumulated quite a garden boot collection.
We once had a three-season porch that overlooked a pond and my backyard gardens. It was furnished with typical rattan porch furniture. We never used it. Why? I would guess we weren’t comfortable. I refurnished the room with cushy sofas, chairs, and a small table for meals. Outside I added a Pagoda Dogwood and Japanese Maple (both small understory trees growing about 8-10 feet) that provided screening from our neighbors. It made all the difference and we enjoyed the room and used it frequently. Can a similar redo of a garden increase the use of an outdoor room? Now our screened porch is a screen house set right in the middle of the gardens.
“Garden-making is creative work, just as much as painting or writing a poem.” ~Hanna Rion I don’t think much about creativity when I garden. For me it is more about the desired results; fresh fruits and vegetables, cut flowers for a vase, or a landscape that is pleasing to the senses. Yet it seems “creative” and “gardening” are put together frequently. A google search with these two terms yields 164 million results!
I’ve started to view creativity as more central to my gardening just as I would when decorating the interior of my home. When I look at those Google results they fall into these categories. Some of these photos are from today, some from other years but all reflect my garden in the winter. I leave my perennials standing because you just never know what nature will provide in the way of a beautiful image.
With the new year I am thinking about what my garden can be in the coming season. Here are my aspirations for 2019:
When the snow flies this gardener gets reading. I can hardly wait to get started on this stack. I've already sneaked a peak into these and am hoping for some quiet days this winter to really dig into these tomes. Here is what I have on my book stack, in no particular order.
Elevation 1313 Feet. I live at the confluence of the east and west forks that start the Chippewa River. It flows 180 miles to join the Mississippi River at Lake Pepin that is the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River, located about 60 miles south of Saint Paul and on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
According to Rhubarb-Central.com "the cultivation methods for forcing rhubarb was developed in the early 1800's. Commercial growers of rhubarb use special forcing sheds, or hot houses, but the home gardener can successfully force rhubarb in a home cellar, a garage, or another outbuilding. Forcing rhubarb can also be done outdoors, in the garden."
The process is a bit involved and I recommend that you do some research before proceeding. |
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