Get Discounted Supplies

I’ve been getting to know some more online vendors, and I’ve really enjoyed Garden’s Alive and the Gardener’s Supply Co.

I bought some organic rose care supplies over the weekend. These websites can be very expensive and I recommend that we always try to find the products local, if possible. Sometimes it is just impossible to get something local, though.

My tip is to find 2-3 online sites or supply companies that have an email newsletter. Once you sign up you can watch their discounts in your Inbox. I have a separate email account I use for these types of things. I already knew I wanted to buy the few items for our roses, but I waited until Memorial Day Weekend, and the company emailed me a discount coupon for the site. I ended up getting everything half off.

So, I sort of have a running list of things I want or need, and I just watch the email coupons. Nothing I need/want is dire, so I take my time watching discounts on 2-3 sites. I usually end up not wanting it anymore or I find a product that is similar at a local store.

Late May Update!

The yard got a little out of control while we were traveling, but a neighbor let me borrow his gas mower and it was the only way I could get it cut down. Now the yard looks nice, and I have been pulling weeds like crazy. I read all the articles that say to weed and prepare beds in the early, early spring, but even when I do that the plants get so healthy this time of year it still needs a lot of maintenance. We have lettuce, early riser pea vines (no peas yet), and other plants I purchased as starts (tomatoes, basil, and some herbs). My experiments this year is an eggplant, cabbage and broccoli. I have to keep telling myself to Water! Water! Water! Some years I don’t water as much as I should, and those plants need to be watered often I think. Two years ago when I was on the Bloomington Garden Walk a person who had a wonderful garden stated that her gardens never worked out until one day her mom called. When she told her mother of her gardening woes, her mom reminded her to water. This gardener stated that once she started to water the plants, especially during establishment, her gardens took right off! Try running a marathon without enough water, and we can probably imagine what the plants feel like when they are dehydrated. Simone, my neighbor, is teaching me about the art of growing roses, except I am learning methods to care for them organically. I love the idea of having roses, but shortly after planting three smaller bushes deer came and ate most of the buds. What learning experience! I sprayed them with some organic-based smelly stuff (garlic, rotten eggs, etc.), and secretly I’m OK with this because I feel bad that we really did take the deer’s land when the community built houses. They are just eating! I’m going to keep learning about growing roses organically, but I am going to stop worrying so much about the deer. (Of course I’m still going to hang my soap out and put human hair around the beds, etc…. to ward them away…) This week I will take pictures to update everyone on the garden’s progress. These plants really are like good friends. I am so glad to see them!

Runaway Bride

In the movie Runaway Bride the main character (Julia Roberts) literally runs away from many opportunities she has to marry different men. Over the course of the movie, Julia starts to realize that she did not know how she liked her eggs cooked because for so long she was simply liking the eggs that her man-of-the-moment liked. Through this process of self-actualization she became more comfortable with herself as an individual, resulting in actually falling in love with a handsome man (Richard Gere).

What does this have to do with My Life, My Organic Garden?

I’m 27-years-old, and I love, love Peonies, lambs ear, butterfly bushes, sage, purple coneflower, black-eyed susans, ferns, hostas, sunflowers, cosmos, growing lettuce and vegetables, and… the National Park Service, Parks, City Departments of Parks and Recreation, riding my bike, swimming during lunch, and this year I’m going to try painting watercolors without using any green tubes of paint; just mix it myself! I do not work in a traditional job relating to my degree, and I like my job very much. And I do not like slice tomatoes on my sandwiches or subs!

It’s probably just time and experience, but I think gardening has been a way for me to meet people, hear stories, and experiment with who I am. If someone is in charge of a garden, no matter how small, they make the decisions about what to grow, how to grow it, and how to help the garden evolve over time. It’s a relationship that has it’s ups and downs, but it is a relationship that potentially can never end. Perhaps though relationships we are able to find out more about what we like and dislike - and grow. Nature does that to a person? This is why I am so happy to hear of children’s gardening clubs, summer camps, and parents who give their children some part of the garden to work in. They can learn so much.

Go discover yourself! Plant something today!