The garden on the deck
I’m not really a very good gardener. I don’t have a green thumb, I don’t have a natural instinct for how to best care for growing things. It’s often hard for me to remember to water my garden on a regular basis, and if I like the way a particular weed looks, I usually just let it live. But I love getting my hands dirty. I love checking my plants, seeing how they’ve progressed during the day. I love talking to them and encouraging them to keep growing.
I’ve been doing a little bit of container gardening out on our deck here at BHFH. Nothing complicated, nothing that’s going to feel like an unwanted obligation. Just a few small plants- calendula, morning glories, moon flowers, cilantro, and dill. Almost every day, I climb up to the deck with some water. I slip my shoes off, sit down on warm planks of wood, and have a little chat with my lovely, steadily growing garden. I marvel at the size of my calendula and let them know how much I’m looking forward to the day they produce blooms.
Sometimes I pluck a tiny cilantro leaf and nibble it right there in the sun.
There’s something really wonderful about planting seeds in soil and watching them become green leaves, bright flowers, delicious herbs. It makes me feel connected to the world in a soft, quiet, almost magical way. Container gardening on such a small scale is possibly not very impressive but it feels special to me, a little breath of fresh air built into my days. It’s especially nice to be able to do it right here in the middle of the city. We’re blessed with a lovely outdoor space at the House and I’m grateful to be able to nurture these tender plants in a place that does so much to nurture me and others.
