By focusing on the lovely aspects of the garden there is a tendency I am trying to deny ~ my pessimism. I don't think I am alone constantly comparing myself to others and my garden to those I see online. One local gardener I know in the area who posts pictures of his sunflowers weeks before mine had even bloomed and always has lots of produce to share and sell is one subject of my green envy. And then there are the countless gardens to view online .... but, enough of that.
Today I am celebrating the beauty of where I am now, in life, in my garden. So what if my sunflowers didn't bloom on the solstice as I hoped and I have only collected a handful of tomatoes so far this summer?
The zinnias are blooming, maybe a little late, but still they bloom.
If our closest friends are a reflection of who we are as people, then maybe the stats of our garden is a reflection of the state of our lives. After many failed attempts at a traditional garden and growing typical garden crops I have changed direction. And the same is true with life. In my early 20's I got off the track of where I was supposed to go with my career, traveled the Americas, lived in tents, fell in love, gave up pretty much everything and learned a lot.
During those years I often struggled to support myself, to make enough money while also following my dreams. Then, I learned about abundance mindset and the power of positive thinking. Slowly and with a lot of dedication the magic of changing my perspective worked on me and my life went from camping in a dusty backyard to living in a home in a beautiful forest with the time and space to make my art and begin to make a living as an artist. It took me close to a decade to make this shift but, oh well, better late than never, right?
If all of this was possible (though, I should admit, not at all easy) then why can't my mindset change when it comes to my garden?
Here is my harvest for the day. It is a lovely plate of microgreens, basil, tomatoes and a small sunflower for decoration. Yes, this is quite a small amount of produce after all the hours and days I have spent toiling in the garden. But instead of thinking "aw, is this all?" I can think of this plate as a small step towards my goals of growing my own greens, fruits of summer, and flowers for beauty and home decor. No matter that I have been gardening for years, it is a start, I must be a late bloomer when it comes to gardening too.
After a couple years of seeing the quantity of vegetable harvests steadily decline I have decided to take my garden in a different direction.* Instead of planning rows of tomatoes and broccoli that struggle to survive I am going with what does grow well here* - herbs and flowers. Like these sunflowers which are heritage (Hopi) seeds gifted to me by a friend in California. I am also particularly proud of my row of Echiancea plants. After a couple of years growing in pots I finally planted them in a garden bed where they co-habitate with a thriving oregano plant, some Calendulas, zinnias and sunflowers. the sight of their purple flowers co-mingling gives me so much joy and reading about Echinacea's medicine I will harvest from their roots in fall makes me feel like a herbalist prepared for whatever is to come.
Before leaving the garden for the morning, I cut a few zinnias for my table and headed inside to prepare for lunch. With the sprouts and basil harvested in the morning I decorated our home baked bread. The freshness of the mustard sprouts, the brightness of the basil, the creaminess of the cheese and the crunch of the toasted bread all combined to make a truly delicious sandwich!
I am grateful and know that part of creating an abundant life is being thankful for the abundance that we already have. The vegetables will come with time and maybe in a very unexpected way as have most blessings in my life. Maybe I am more suited at foraging for wild weeds in the forest then transplanting them in my garden. That is certainly the case for many of the herbs I collect and grow for my apothecary. It will be a challenge to change my pessimism to optimism when it comes to my efforts in the garden, but probably much more gratifying to value all the beauty; from flowers, to herbs, to this mico-green covered sandwich, that grows around me.
I wish you all lots of abundance and happy gardening!
Your garden is beautiful, and so are you. Thank you for writing with us.
Thank you thank you!! It was fun to write and reflect about this moment and the garden now.
Oh I love those kinds of flowers especially the Sunflower. I really wanted to have my own sunflower plant at home. I might order seeds online.
Such a lovely #gardenjournal dear @calendulacraft!
I've been there as a gardener, never had a great success (and I still don't, it's just that currently I don't have a garden :)
Even though little in quantity, everything has such a full taste and aroma and emotion. I like to think of my homegrown food as a multiple times more powerful nutrition than anything in the world!
And for some reason, we were also late bloomers all these years, who knows why :))
That is a great way to think about it! I suppose that is why it is nice to focus on microgreens, they are small but very mighty!
I hope we can all normalize late bloomers! It is exciting to know that there is so much more to discover and talents to acquire all throughout a lifetime.
I love your Zinnias, I once got them, they are gone now.
Aw too bad! They need a lot of water and weeding but they sure are beautiful!
Indeed, they are beautiful especially when you got multiple colors.
The flowers and other harvests you got there are so beautiful. You're lucky to have that beautiful garden.
Thank you! feeling blessed though it is a lot of work to keep these flowers going. I appreciate the comment!
@calendulacraft Tu jardín es muy bonito y sí, tienes razón, necesitas adoptar las plantas que mejor se adapten a vivir allí.
So much positive energy here,
You made me rethink about certain things I said in life
Instead of thinking about the bad why not be grateful for the good and work for the better
Yes exactly!! That is the goal. There really is so much good in the world, and I think by focusing on that there will be more & more!
❤️
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A gorgeous post - always a pleasure when you write us a post! I wonder why your vegetables failed? It sounds like you are able to forage to supplement your table in season as well which is so fortuitious. I'm a big believer in using herbs for the dinner table in as many ways as possible. Do you ever use the sunflower seeds to make a paste? I saw it on HIVE the other day - she roasted and blended them for a tasty 'butter'. Cool!