Since we have become homeowners, I've always had this fantasy about having a spectacular garden. Lush and full, free of weeds, our garden would be certain to thrive seeing as how we live in a west coast rainforest climate, right? If I'm the gardener, I wouldn't be so sure about that.
The people who lived in our house before we did were fantastic landscapers and gardeners. They planted a well-planned garden full of colour and in the right proportions. They had this beautiful hybrid apple tree in the backyard and a grapevine growing on the trellis by the chimney. Roses, rhododendrons, and a hydrangea that just won't quit. I haven't managed to kill all these things yet, but they are definitely looking neglected and raggedy after five years of our home ownership. I've also tried planting the odd perennial here and there, but they look out of place and scraggly for the most part. Many of the people who live on our street are retired and they take great pride in having well-kept yards that look all tickety-boo. I'm pretty sure they're wondering how they ended up with neighbours who are so horticulturally challenged.
Fast forward to my current fantasy: having a little vegetable patch in our backyard. Here we could grow our own organic food and it's environmentally friendly. There are a few reasons I haven't yet taken the plunge:
1. Home vegetable gardens are an example sustainable living, unless I am the one who is doing the sustaining. When it comes to actually doing the work of gardening, history has shown that I don't have a lot of follow-through.
2. Hubby is attached to the grass. He takes a great deal of pride in having a nice lawn and has put a fair amount of time and effort into it. It would be a hard sell at best and I would feel terrible if I dug up his yard and failed miserably as a vegetable gardener.
3. Critters. We live close to a ravine and there are a lot of critters down there who I would not like to attract to our yard with a food source for them.
But still, I really really really would like to grow a vegatable garden...perhaps it's that I'm on maternity leave and feeling like I need something else to do. It's a bit late for this year anyway...
Maybe I'll take the plunge next year if I still feel this way in March when I head back to work.
Maybe I'll take the plunge next year if I still feel this way in March when I head back to work.
My fantasy garden:
The Sad Reality (this is the bean plant that Amy brought home from school a month ago that I still haven't managed to plant anywhere):
It even has a bean! You're a green goddess!
ReplyDelete