Garden Group

Sunday brought a break in the rain and my gardening group meeting.

Tara brought over a loaf of fresh-baked bread and homemade cheese. Michelle came bearing jars of homemade marmalade. My store bought cookies sat, accusingly, on their plate. I need to step up my game.

Side note: I'd mentioned earlier that week that I was nearly out of jams due to The Belly and my inability to can during the hottest months of the summer. By the time the ladies left, my jam supply was restocked.

With our bellies full, we sat down for the exhilarating business of seed swapping. We shared our finds and then got to work, passing seed packets the way a bridge group would pass cards. If even half of what we plant grows and flourishes, we'll be able to feed a large portion of the county.

This year, in an effort to save a bit of money, I've started my plants from seeds. This is a very intimidating and nerve-wracking situation for me. It's no secret that I'm a) impatient and b) not exactly a green thumb. The combo of the two means that it's much better for all involved when I buy plants rather than seeds.

Then I discovered these. So far, we've placed seeds in four of them. Four mini greenhouses comprised of 72 cells each means that I should, if all goes well, have 288 plants. Sit down! Take your hands away from that phone! Do not, I repeat, do not call Chad. He doesn't really realize how many I've filled. They take up so little space at the moment that I think he thinks they only hold 12 or so plants.

The really bad part is that I need to buy one more to plant the seeds that I collected on Sunday.

Now before you start lecturing me, bear in mind that a lot of those plants are beans and peas. I usually plant the seeds directly in the ground and, when I do, I plant 30 or so of them in a row.

Okay.

Obviously, the gardening bug is starting to get a bit out of control. But really, are you surprised? After the last two years, it should be obvious that I'm spiralling out of control. Fortunately, I have my garden plan to keep me somewhat in line. Equally fortunate, I've been reading about companion plants, French intensive gardening and guerrilla gardening. I'm thinking of planting a few artichokes in our common area.

I'll leave you with a quote by Nathanial Hawthorne:

"I used to visit and revisit it a dozen times a day, and stand in deep contemplation over my vegetable progeny with a love that nobody could share or conceive of who had never taken part in the process of creation. It was one of the most bewitching sights in the world to observe a hill of beans thrusting aside the soil, or a rose of early peas just peeping forth sufficiently to trace a line of delicate green."