Cultivating garden wisdom

Gardening reveals a lot of truths about the natural world. It teaches the lessons of reward for patience and persistence. And it helps to foster a sage's sense of hope and renewal. I believe it's a way of cultivating wisdom.

Passers-by might be surprised that a retired garden writer lives here. My yard doesn't compare very favorably with those that I've profiled for gardening magazines. I'm almost always a season behind schedule, and weeds have sprung up where I meant to mulch months ago. But like all gardeners, I'm full of hope and I treat my many gardening failures as learning experiences.

Welcome to my seasonal gardening blog. I'll spotlight the gardening issues I'm grappling with in my own yard and I'll share some of the gardening wisdom I've gained by "trowel and error."

Writing and gardening are as intertwined for me as the morning glory stems that wildly embrace each other as they reach for the sun.

May 10 , 2010

The Easiest Kitchen Garden

A kitchen garden usually refers to a vegetable and herb garden a few steps from the back door. But you can grow a micro-garden as close as the kitchen countertop. You don't even have to get dirt under your fingernails. Nothing could be simpler.

I've recently rediscovered sprouts. They're easy to grow, nutritious and delicious. I recommend lentils. They're readily available, inexpensive and versatile. I've used them as a substitute for mung beans in Chinese dishes and they add a nutty taste and delightful crunch to salads.

I've had good success doing it this way:

• Put a small handful of lentils in the bottom of a wide-mouth glass jar (they'll expand to about four times the volume of the dry seed, so don't go overboard). Fill the jar with water and let the lentils soak a few hours or overnight.
• Cover the top of the jar with a piece of cheescloth or other porous material held in place by a rubber band (I often use a coffee filter with several fine holes punched in it) . Drain.
• After the first soaking, rinse them 2-3 times a day, draining immediately. For green tops, give them some light. They'll be ready to use in 2-4 days, depending on how large you want them to be.
• Refrigerate, rinse with fresh water daily and use them within a few days. Discard if they start to look or smell bad.

That's all there is to it. It's the easiest kitchen garden you'll ever grow.

February 7, 2010

Peace for All

About 30 years ago, when I was gardening in a narrow raised bed behind my condominium, the man who would become my husband gave me a very thoughtful gift: a subscription to a publication titled Gardens for All. The magazine appealed to the gardening evangelist in me, evoking the kind of egalitarian, agrarian society that Thomas Jefferson envisioned, but on a back yard scale.

I was idealistic back then. To me, 9-1-1 was a high-nitrogen fertilizer, not a date I could never forget. Decades later, I'm still idealistic. I believe that gardening may be our best hope for restoring the environment, and ourselves.

Just a few weeks ago, a friend showed me an article in Verdana that introduced me to a non-profit group, Gardens for Peace. Their mission includes "to use the universal language of the garden to promote peace in the world." Wow. Talk about your gardening evangelists!

So if gardens do in fact promote peace—and I believe that they do—then surely gardens for all will lead to peace for all. That is my hope.

Previous Years' wisdom:

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005