My Chaotic Garden is My Happy Place

I do not have a green thumb. Nothing about my garden comes easily to me. I did not grow up weeding the garden at my mom’s side.  I did learn many things from my mom. My most treasured lesson is the ability to listen to people. To really listen. I spent many afternoons sitting in the sunroom telling her endless details from my day and she listened like she had nothing to do though, in reality, she had so much to do to run our household of six and for that, I am most grateful. But I did not learn to garden from her.

I always loved the idea of a garden, but I am an idea addict. My first gardens were complete flops, failures, weed-infested disasters, that yielded only frustration. My kind friends Rania and Melissa continued to encourage me. They told me to try again. Melissa even generously came to my house one day when I wasn’t home and weeded and turned the soil for me.

My oldest brother who grew up with the same mom somehow did develop a green thumb and he married a woman with amazing green thumbs. They've always had simply beautiful gardens. And maybe that was part of my failure. I couldn’t be the gardener, that was Rob’s thing. Well, thank goodness I got over my insecurities and, with encouragement, I persisted. Today, my garden is my happy place. I even have two Peter Rabbits living in there, which causes some chaos, but I think we can happily share the space with some improved fencing.

This is our third year with the garden we inherited with our recent move. It is an epic garden that the previous owners built. It was intimidating and neglected but we dug in and year three is looking good. The first year we got a ton of lettuce and some pea pods and we were amazed that we actually grew something, it was so fun! Our son Austin actually lead the initiative, clearing the beds, planting the seeds, and by the grace of god some lettuce grew and it was awesome. Then the weeds took over while we enjoyed our first summer on a lake.

Last year, we harvested a ton of super tasty tomatoes, a bunch of peppers, a couple watermelon, a couple carrots, lots of pea pods and green beans and no pumpkins, though we tried. It was a pretty enjoyable harvest and we officially had the gardening bug. This year, we had the soil turned over so early and could not wait to plant! Our garden is fully planted and I cannot wait to see what grows. We even have some beds dedicated to growing for the rabbits and chickens.

The garden is now my happy place. The chicken coop is right next to it and I love watching the chickens in their dust baths just outside the garden while I weed. I love filling the coop with a pile of weeds for them to devour. I love letting the bunnies out and watching them do hot laps around the garden. I don’t love it when they nibble on my plants, but like I said, I’m working on some fencing to help that issue. And, most of all, I love it when my kids show up in the garden. Sometimes they help, sometimes they chat, there is something magical about the time in the garden together. I feel it, but the further reading below proves it.

My garden has taught me that imperfect action can yield delicious rewards, but you have to put in the effort. You have to do the weeding and watering. I wish each of you the bounty of a garden, whether it's a tomato plant on a deck or a community garden or a large garden on a farm.

Further Reading:

This is what spending one hour in the garden does to your body.

Why gardening therapy is being prescribed by doctors.