Garden Journal Entry No. 5

Fool's spring, an invitation to garden and gardening with your children.

Fool’s Spring

In true Texas fashion, our weather is keeping us on our toes! We went from 30s and hard freezes to sunshine and 80s within a week. The last few days have been absolutely lovely, with bright, warm sun, brisk mornings followed by afternoons that require t-shirts and the AC kicking on if I leave the windows open too late in the day. I even wore shorts on our morning walk yesterday! I absolutely love this weather.

Despite my Pacific Northwest roots and growing up with more varied seasons, I’ve very much acclimated to Texas weather and prefer the heat to the cold. I’ve lived in Texas for almost 18 years now, majority of my life, and my body thrives in warm, even hot, weather. All three of my children were due in August, so I believe that sweating out three Texas summers 9 months pregnant really made me tolerant of heat and humidity! A day that reaches 80, ideally 85, is perfection to me, and that is why I absolutely love spring here in Texas. There’s no slow, gradual warm-up. We don’t ease into spring with weeks of weather in the 60s before a transition into higher temps. We go BAM right into the 70s-80s and it stays that way until we roll into the 90s.

However, I know Texas’ tricks. This is fool’s spring, and I ain’t no fool.

Texas always throws us one final curveball, one last little surprise in the forecast, before we’re officially in the ‘all-clear’ for spring. We could have a month of warm weather and then out of the blue will come a random freeze, an unexpected cold snap, a frost that would certainly impact any early planting. Whether it’s mid-February or mid-March, there’s always a last ‘gotcha!’ that a Texas gardener should keep in mind.

So while I’m chomping at the bit to get some seeds in the ground, to dive into my favorite season of gardening, to bring back the daily joy I find in tending to our little garden, I know to wait a bit longer and see what Texas has in store for us.

The longterm forecast looks clear and encouraging, so I plan to spend the next few weeks pruning, cleaning and prepping.

The roses desperately need some TLC, they are hardy and will come back lovely, but our freezes really did a number on them. My climbing Peggy Martin’s look quite haggard at the moment.

The beds need lots of love. They need some new soil, the older four beds seem very sandy and don’t exactly look welcoming for new growth.

Our landscaping really needs some work, the grasses need to be cut back, the Sandy Leaf Fig needs to be trimmed and raked out (not looking forward to that), Butterfly Bush, Lantana, Plumbago and other various plants need a good cut and I need to do something about our sad lemon tree.

A few weeks of tidying, cleaning and prepping! Come the first of March, if I can wait that long, it will be planting time.

An Invitation to Garden

I’m going to be very honest and straightforward: I know very little about gardening.

I share these garden journals and updates, simply because I LOVE to garden and it’s a great joy of mine, but I’m really not qualified to write anything informational about it, and if you’re looking for expert advice, you’ll need to go elsewhere. While I’ve had a garden of some kind for about six years now, I definitely consider myself a beginner and everything is one big experiment. But over the six years, I’ve fallen in love with gardening and I think it’s one of the most life-giving hobbies you can partake in. I’ve become a crazy garden lady, it’s developed into a deep passion of mine, and I wish everyone could experience the reward that comes with growing, tending and getting your hands dirty. It’s thrilling!

Each year of gardening has been a learning experience, to say the least, with some gardens far more fruitful than others. The garden in our first home was much different than our current garden in terms of layout, soil and sun exposure. The first year of planting in our current garden was a disaster because I treated it the same as I had our previous garden, even though there were so many varying factors. This will be our third spring gardening here in our current spot and I feel more confident going into planting season this year than I’ve felt previously. We learn by doing!

While growing vegetables, flowers and plants is thrilling and enjoyable, the true reward for me is the time I get to spend outside, tending to the garden. I love to piddle around, get my hands in the dirt, soil permanently stuck under my nails. I love to see little sprouts pop up, to see the daily growth of each plant. I love learning and the challenge of doing something ‘new,’ being humbled by inexperience and finding satisfaction in seeing an experiment be successful. I love the quiet time outside, the early morning sunshine sparkling off water shooting out of a hose, the singing of the birds, the time spent in nature, the open opportunity for peaceful contemplation and prayer. Some of my most meditative and thoughtful prayers are silently said in the tranquility of the garden.

On the weekends while my husband and children are eating breakfast, I’ll take my cup of coffee out to the garden and water, check on things, enjoy the morning sun in silence apart from nature, pray the rosary, just have a few quiet minutes outside to myself. It’s lovely.

All this to be said, I really want to invite and encourage you to garden this spring, if you aren’t already. You don’t need much, it doesn’t have to be a big garden! You can have one single planter and be a gardener. Plant something, just one thing! A little pot, a self-watering planter, a small container, one pot. Or do more, do some beds, raised or in-ground, do a few containers, plant something in your landscaping, window boxes, you name it. Dirt, seeds, a vessel to put them in and then some water and sunshine. Pick something that excites you, whether that’s flowers or some kitchen herbs.

If you’re just getting started and looking for a help getting things off the ground, or if you’re looking for an aesthetically-pleasing garden that’s ready for you to enjoy, there are people with small businesses centered around garden design and planning! There are so many wonderful companies and gardeners who will design, plan, construct and plant a beautiful garden for you and put their expertise to work in your own yard. Essentially a ‘turn-key’ garden for you to tend, which is a great option for those who want a sizable garden but feel there’s no time to build one. I would search “Garden planner (your location)” to find these businesses in your area.

Get yourself a little dirt, a packet of seeds and plant something this spring. Allow yourself to be a novice at something, to be open to failure and learning and mistakes. Don’t be intimidated by the ‘rules,’ just start somewhere! I promise you’ll fall in love with gardening.

Gardening with Children

Gardening with my children makes it even sweeter! Inviting them to be equally involved in the gardening is rewarding for all of us. My children do all of it with me, they even try to prune with little kid scissors. I love their squeals of delight over seeing new buds or fruit, their laughter as they soak each other watering is unbeatable and knowing they are getting fresh air, sunshine and time outside is invaluable. They learn how to tend to something, how to care for a living thing, how to have a gentle touch here, a firm touch here, the patience in waiting for something to grow, the excitement in seeing something come to life, the sense of accomplishment in seeing their labor reap reward. They have to listen to directions and be responsible with their garden chores. Gardening teaches children so much!

Children can even try new foods, expanding their palates! Perhaps they won’t eat a snap pea on their plate, but they’ll eat one off the vine in the garden. They look forward to our daily tending, knowing it’s part of our routine to go water or weed. They look for bugs, they chase butterflies, they make mud pies. It makes for a sweet, simple piece of childhood and nurtures their love for nature.

Just as I said before, you don’t need much to get your kid’s involved with the garden. Get them a little pot, a packet of seeds, some dirt and show them how to water. Make it their own responsibility! “Did you water your tomato plant today?” It doesn’t have to be perfect, embrace the mess! Let them be silly and have fun with it, while also being gentle and tender with their plants.

We have the Vego Garden raised beds and they’ve been wonderful for us in many ways, one reason being they’re the perfect height for the kids!

Whether you’re diving into gardening for yourself or for the kids, make it a family affair and let your children do it alongside you. Everyone will benefit from gardening together!

Here are some of my garden favorites, from the shears I use (gifted to me by my landscaper husband) to the garden beds we use, trellises I have and a seed source for flowers, herbs, vegetables and beyond!