CONSTANT GARDENER
If at first you don't succeed...try, try again!
“Look for the long red stalks with dark green leaves…but don’t eat the leaves! They’re poisonous!”
That was my great-grandmother, telling my cousins and me how to find the rhubarb in the garden. We didn’t know what rhubarb was, but the word “poisonous” sent us running out the door with glee. My great-grandmother was good at that, motivating us to do chores by making them seem fun. Back then, I didn’t realize how wonderful it was to have a great-grandmother. Her big white farmhouse with black shutters and a big red door welcomed our family for every holiday throughout my childhood.
One year, I returned to great-grandma’s house with my new husband and newborn son—we had five generations around the table that year! I wanted to contribute to the family meal and offered to make a rice salad. My mother-in-law had given me the New York Times Cookbook for a wedding gift. As a young newlywed in Indiana, cooking from that book made me feel ever so sophisticated. And many of the recipes were for dishes I had never heard of!
Grandma suggested that I gather ingredients from the garden. The recipe called for fresh tomato, cucumber, parsley, and garlic, and they were all growing in great-grandma’s garden. I picked fresh vegetables and set about chopping and cooking alongside great-grandma, grandma, and my mom in the yellow galley kitchen. It is a memory that I cherish.
The salad looked beautiful. With bright red tomatoes, dark green parsley, and a touch of paprika, it stood out against the traditional boiled green beans and meatloaf that was being served. After the prayer, dishes were passed around the table. I was smiling from ear to ear as everyone took a scoop of my fancy new dish. And then, after the first bites were taken, I realized I had made a huge mistake … the fresh garlic was much more potent than the store-bought variety I usually used. It was so strong that the salad was barely edible. My uncles hooted and really let me have it! For years, we laughed at the retelling of the now infamous rice salad story.
That experience turned me off gardening. However, every so often over the years, I would remember how I loved my great-grandma’s garden and would buy pots of herbs and vegetables from the hardware store. I brought them home but more often than not, the plants would die in the pots I brought them home in.
Many years have passed, the kids have left the nest, and I’m feeling energized to start my expeditionvision and rekindling my love of gardening. To get off to a proper start, rather than repeat old habits that ended in failure, I attended a gardening presentation given by an erudite young man. Geez what an old lady thing to say! Oh, well, if the shoe fits … wear it!
He really was quite impressive. He had built a beautiful backyard garden capable of feeding an army! He described how the large built-up mounds of soil and corresponding troughs captured the perfect amount of water and nutrients while discouraging the weeds. He rattled off the names of the plants and fruit trees and how each was placed to provide nutrients for the other. It was fascinating and a bit overwhelming at the same time. For just a fraction of a second, I was envisioning how to use his methods for my own garden before reality set in, because I knew his method was far above what I was capable of.
Not completely deterred, I purchased a pot of basil and a pot of Italian oregano last weekend. It took me a week to remove them from their plastic containers and plant them in a larger pot. But it’s been three weeks and counting, and they’re still alive! I’ve even snipped some for the salad lunches that I pack for work.
While I may not be ready for the title of accomplished gardener, perhaps a more fitting label would be that of a Constant Gardener.