"A Bit of Earth"

"Might I," quavered Mary, "might I have a bit of earth?"

If you've never read the book The Secret Garden, then in my opinion you're missing out on a very great pleasure. It's a marvelous little novel, peopled with charming characters, beautiful scenery, an intriguing mystery, trials of the human heart, and a writing style that is not to be missed. The plot centers around an orphan girl named Mary Lennox who has been sent to live with her reclusive uncle in the English countryside. While there she discovers a "secret" garden, one that has been locked up for many years. She falls in love with the place and sets about reclaiming the weed-choked beds. When her uncle asks her if she needs anything (toys, dolls, etc.) she insists that all she wants is "a bit of earth" to grow things in.

This concept of "a bit of earth" has stuck with me over the years. I am currently enjoying a Women of Faith study guide (Understanding Purpose by Carolyn Custis James) in which the author brings up the idea in the context of God giving each of us a bit of earth, "a territory entrusted to us where He calls us to represent Him and to advance His kingdom." 

10 Essential Gardening Tips from a Hopeless Amateur

Clover patch, originally uploaded by xordroyd.

1. The shrimpy little bundle of leaves that you transplant into your backyard because it's an eyesore will inevitably become the most gorgeous bit of horticultural artwork you will ever produce.

2. That perky little volunteer tomato plant is always a federally certified noxious weed. Always.

3. If you are of Irish ancestry or personally know someone of Irish ancestry, BEWARE! You will soon realize that the only thing you can grow reliably is clover. (Hint: co-gardening with an English person may help alleviate this particular symptom.)

4. The boundaries for iPod listening in the garden:

• Audiobooks: yes. Tolstoy is better appreciated while weeding the peonies.
• Music: no. Tuneless humming along to the latest Taylor Swift album has been known to kill tender seedlings.

5. Dandelions lend a touch of class to any flower bed or window box.

6. Never bother to plan your garden: just start a bunch of little plants indoors and see what happens. Inevitably you will have far too few varieties, far too little garden space, far too many seedlings, or nothing at all--no matter what you do.

7. If one of your plants injures you, or you injure it, the best policy is just to forgive and forget. Don't grind axes, throw stones, or hold grudges. Bad things happen.

8. Here's a rule of thumb about weeding: 

• If it's hale and hearty, by all means rip it up! It is probably planning to consume every square inch of dirt you possess.
• If it's pale, wrinkled, pathetic, and/or spotty, keep it. This is probably your grandmother's heirloom rose.

9. Watering and weeding simultaneously is a very good idea. Squatting down in the dirt while spraying gallons of water out of a hose at high pressure makes for a highly satisfactory mudbath.

10. If you are of Irish ancestry, have a secret fondness for crabgrass, and/or happen to live in the Badlands, you might consider growing a weed garden. A bit of purslane here, some buckwheat over there, a touch of pigweed, and a patch of saramollagrass in the corner...it's bound to be a smashing success and the envy of all your friends. 

                                                                                                               Happy Gardening!

Who Would Have Thought?

Disasters happen. But are they always a bad thing?


If you watch the news or the weather channel then you probably heard about the massive snow that much of America experienced a few weeks ago. I say "experienced". It was actually more like a pre-apocalyptic blizzard that was so sudden and unexpected that we got a little idea of what it might feel like to be buried under a rain of volcanic ash.


We hardly ever get a sizable snow in Northwest Arkansas. Really--we think that four inches is huge! We put on our ski gear and head for a hill with our little sleds, then zoom down the slope for a couple of hours until there's grass poking through our tracks, then then call it a day and go inside for hot chocolate and brownies.


This, however, was a very different story. I woke up one morning and simply couldn't believe my eyes. This is what my cottage garden arbor looks like in spring:

And this is what I woke up to:

I was shocked, to say that least. But the whole family was pretty happy with this snowpocalypse. After all, it was a novelty, and we were safe and warm inside our house with plenty of ingredients for hot soup.

Then Aaron went for a walk to the back of our property, behind the line of juniper trees. He called out...

Cottage Garden Update!

So here we are in July, and my "bit of earth" has gone crazy! I should have taken pictures of it a little earlier when things were still small enough to stand upright, but better late than never.

I planted some interesting new things this year. Most notably borage, an herb that has grown to gigantic proportions (about four feet high now). I made borage lemonade - which was delicious and refreshing - and I hear that you can eat the prickly leaves like a vegetable. I adore the flowers, they are so unique, exotic, and scream their Creator's genius.  

Here's another new one for me: love-in-a-mist. I read about this and borage in an awesome little book called Creating a Cottage Garden in North America by Stephen Westcott-Gratton. It's another exotic looking flower that was popular in 16th century gardens, and complements my lavender nicely. 

I planted four o'clocks last year; they self-seeded and have officially taken over! I left a few bare patches of my garden, intending to fill them with a variety of store-bought seedlings, but these pesky rascals said otherwise. They color the place up admirably though, and are so thick and flourishing that I've given them mercy and let them stay.

Another plant that has gone out of control - blazing stars. They have grown so tall that I had to stake them to get the long purple stalks from blocking the pathway! The bees absolutely love them (did I mention that they are also wild about borage?) so whenever I go out to my garden I am surrounded by swarms of fuzzy friends.

And then there are the calendulas, another remnant from last year. They were terribly wimpy the first time they grew - limp and smelly and late-blooming - but after sitting there over the winter they have revolutionized into clumps of perky yellow sunshine.

Hope you enjoyed this update. Feel free to leave suggestions as to future posting topics, I could always use some inspiration!

Tata for now,

Abby

Cottage Garden: Further Down the Road

Yes, I know, it's been ages  since I last posted :( But I've been a very busy girl! One facet of my schedule lately has been pottering about in my English Cottage Garden, so here's an update on that for all you fascinated masses.

The picture above is one of the columbines that I planted last year, which was so shrimpy and blossom-less that I almost gave up on it. Now my little columbine plants have skyrocketed into full growth and bloom, putting on these gorgeous, many-colored, complex flowers.

And here is the peony (Bowl of Beauty) which I thought might have died during the cold winter:

God does work some marvelous miracles, doesn't He? 

Were you wondering how those little seeds I planted earlier turned out? Well, most of them survived, I'm glad to say, and they have now taken up residence in the garden.

Above you can see a tiny little sage plant. Cute, isn't he?

And here is a basil seedling. I hope to get a lot of pesto out of this puppy.

So, that's the garden update. Are any of you guys busy getting humus under your nails?

Tata for now,

Abby

Cottage Garden Time!!!

Ah, yes. The weather warms, birds begin to sing, Uncle Greg shaves his head, and we all know that spring is on the way! It's the time when a cottage gardener's heart turns to potting soil and compost. I've only had one year's experience with gardening, but it has me chomping at the bit for more! Don't mistake me, I've never been the agricultural type. I'd much rather sit in my window seat with a hot cup of tea on a cloudy day and read some heart-pounding fiction. But I've always had an insatiable passion, nay, obsession, with everything English. Ergo--the English Cottage Garden. 

Today I got to work planting my first seeds in little peat pots. These will (God willing) germinate in the next couple of weeks as they sit out on our sun-porch, soaking up all sorts of water and nutrients and growing into lovely big plants. Our last frost date down here is around the third week in April, and when that time rolls around I will hopefully have some tiny green things to put out in my freshly-tilled soil! 

The first step is to get the ingredients together: Peat pots, check. Seeds, check. Trowel, check. Potting soil, check. Watering can, check. Nice old table that doesn't mind water damage, check.

Now I dump some potting soil into the peat pots and sprinkle in my seeds (left over from last year and preserved in the freezer). Columbines, in this case.

Next, I put a little soil over the seeds and cut up the top of a cottage cheese container to use as cheap plant markers (I wouldn't want to get confused and forget which seeds I planted in which peat pots, now would I?). 

All that's left is to repeat the process with some herbs (thyme, basil, parsley) and water thoroughly. Yeehaw! I plan on buying some more seeds as soon as possible. But for now, we're on our way to traditional English bliss.

Check in for more gardening updates in the months to come!

-Abby Rogers