What do you mean I can grow carrots?

I am going through some self-reflection right now in my professional life so the ideas of change and exploring what is possible are on my mind. I ask myself often, and I now ask you, what kind of gardener do you want to be? Because you CAN be that person.

I did not really feel like a gardener until I got out of my box planting peas in the spring and tomatoes, basil and green beans in the summer. I grew up in New England, helping my father in his vegetable garden and following my grandmother around her flower beds. So that is where my gardening education started. In the fall, it got cold pretty fast. Everything got killed by frost and that was the end of the season. I have lived in Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years and it has taken me years to get out of that mindset because the climate here is so different.

It all started with carrots! These are the tendersweet variety.

My first step out of the constraints I had wrapped around myself was trying to grow carrots even though I had heard somewhere that carrots are hard to grow. Carrots are not, not, not hard to grow. Put some seeds in the dirt, thin the the seedlings out, pick, wash and BAM, you’re eating carrots you grew in your backyard.  

That small victory lead to not planting pea seeds on St. Patrick’s Day because I was not eating them. Picture me struggling with the temporary nylon trellis every year, and then training the pea plants that would not grab onto it and then shoring up the sagging trellis when the plants go too heavy and then the pods would get too large and inedible because I was not picking them…you get the picture. I was on autopilot and that was taking time away from other more important gardening to-dos.

For the first time last summer I bought a beautiful, bushy fern to hang in my porch. It felt so decadent to plunk down $15.00 at the big box store! I always would have a pang of envy driving by a house that had ferns hanging because they looked so inviting and southern. They are everywhere in my area. What does this northerner know about keeping a fern alive!?! I miss New England, even though I have been gone for more than 20 years, and this was my little way of embracing my adopted home. I am still learning how to deal with the climate and panic-inducing “snowstorms”, but my gardening hobby makes it feel like home.

Those are just a few examples of many ways I challenge myself. The successes and failures are extremely rewarding and I continue pushing my gardening boundaries because it’s so freeing and gives me inspiration.

Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pexels

My 2019 garden goals:

1.       Have a successful plot in the neighborhood community garden (if there is room for me this year) so I can meet some gardeners and donate the vegetables to a local food pantry

2.       Be honest with myself about how shady my yard is getting and learn about what can grow in those areas

3.       Deal with an awful patch in the backyard left by a construction project where weeds won’t even grow

4.       Convince my partner that the new bed I want to dig up with be filled with the beautiful flowers that he loves

So my challenge to you is to put a name on how you are going to break down some of your gardening boundaries in 2019. Maybe you want to introduce one or two new plants or you want to add a new bed to the yard or maybe you want to try growing from seed for the first time. Tell me in the comments how you are going to challenge yourself this year.

Gardening Questions? Contact me

If you have any questions about gardening, please reach out to me in an email. I am happy to help!