Spring is in the air. I can feel it. This last weekend, the temperature got up into the 60s, and it was glorious. The rain returned this week, but we are looking at springtime weather again this coming weekend. My heart sings, my girls sit outside on the front porch in shorts to soak up the sunshine, and my Chacos come out of the closet to free my feet from their winter confines.
As Spring approaches, so does the anticipation of what I am going to garden this year. I spent some time this winter looking over seed catalogs, and quickly felt overwhelmed. I am a bit of a happenstance gardener, meaning that I plant things I like and then let them go. Of course, I water and do some tending, but often I plant seeds and then, I neglect them and let them grow wild. The result is fruit that shrivels on the vine and withers away from lack of watering. Or lettuce that grows wild and takes over and becomes infested with earwigs (pesky little things), and I become overwhelmed with the thought of dealing with it. Or the carrots I grew two years ago but didn't take the time to thin, and the fruit was small, underdeveloped and some were so entwined around each other that I couldn't tell one from another.
This can be such a pattern in our own lives. I know that as a happenstance gardener, it is a very real pattern in my own life. It has taken some refining moments over the last year to help me recognize it, but in many ways, my gardening habits are a reflection of many of my life habits. Here's what I mean: In our busy-ness and life circumstance, we plant seeds with good intentions, but never return to do the hard work of tending the garden.
I am a creative, but I am also a bit scattered sometimes, and I like to try new things. I tend to plant seeds of creativity in my life or start projects and leave them unfinished. I like to be involved in things that my kiddos are involved in, and sometimes those seeds grow so big, they overwhelm me. Other times, I will plant a seed and begin to see fruit, only to neglect it and have the fruit never truly materialize. If I fail to weed, to water, and to tend the garden of my life, why am I so surprised when I do not see the fruit I desire?
This year, I am making an intentional shift in my garden and in my life. The goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year are slowly becoming reality, because I am making the time to intentionally tend to those goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. I am learning to trust the progress and the process. My garden this year will be smaller than in previous years. I will be more intentional about making time to tend, to water, to weed, so that the fruit, while maybe less, will be of better quality than in years past. I am excited for these changes, and am looking forward to the planting season.
Here's what I'm planting this year:
In my veggie garden:
Cherry tomatoes
Roma tomatoes
Carrots
Zucchini
Peppers
Eggplant
In my herb garden:
Mint
Basil
Rosemary
Tarragon
Oregano
In my flower garden:
Carnations
Petunias
Daisies
Pansies
Marigolds
Hosta
In my life garden:
I'm planting daily time in God's Word.
I'm planting time spent on relationships instead of distraction.
I'm planting health instead of convenience.
I'm planting joy in place of stress and frustration.
I'm planting creativity, beauty, and fun.
What are you planting this year?
As Spring approaches, so does the anticipation of what I am going to garden this year. I spent some time this winter looking over seed catalogs, and quickly felt overwhelmed. I am a bit of a happenstance gardener, meaning that I plant things I like and then let them go. Of course, I water and do some tending, but often I plant seeds and then, I neglect them and let them grow wild. The result is fruit that shrivels on the vine and withers away from lack of watering. Or lettuce that grows wild and takes over and becomes infested with earwigs (pesky little things), and I become overwhelmed with the thought of dealing with it. Or the carrots I grew two years ago but didn't take the time to thin, and the fruit was small, underdeveloped and some were so entwined around each other that I couldn't tell one from another.
This can be such a pattern in our own lives. I know that as a happenstance gardener, it is a very real pattern in my own life. It has taken some refining moments over the last year to help me recognize it, but in many ways, my gardening habits are a reflection of many of my life habits. Here's what I mean: In our busy-ness and life circumstance, we plant seeds with good intentions, but never return to do the hard work of tending the garden.
I am a creative, but I am also a bit scattered sometimes, and I like to try new things. I tend to plant seeds of creativity in my life or start projects and leave them unfinished. I like to be involved in things that my kiddos are involved in, and sometimes those seeds grow so big, they overwhelm me. Other times, I will plant a seed and begin to see fruit, only to neglect it and have the fruit never truly materialize. If I fail to weed, to water, and to tend the garden of my life, why am I so surprised when I do not see the fruit I desire?
This year, I am making an intentional shift in my garden and in my life. The goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year are slowly becoming reality, because I am making the time to intentionally tend to those goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. I am learning to trust the progress and the process. My garden this year will be smaller than in previous years. I will be more intentional about making time to tend, to water, to weed, so that the fruit, while maybe less, will be of better quality than in years past. I am excited for these changes, and am looking forward to the planting season.
Here's what I'm planting this year:
In my veggie garden:
Cherry tomatoes
Roma tomatoes
Carrots
Zucchini
Peppers
Eggplant
In my herb garden:
Mint
Basil
Rosemary
Tarragon
Oregano
In my flower garden:
Carnations
Petunias
Daisies
Pansies
Marigolds
Hosta
In my life garden:
I'm planting daily time in God's Word.
I'm planting time spent on relationships instead of distraction.
I'm planting health instead of convenience.
I'm planting joy in place of stress and frustration.
I'm planting creativity, beauty, and fun.
What are you planting this year?
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