Winter Quiet
““Don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.” — RUMI”
In the somewhat peculiar month of February, I've decided to weave a gardening page into my site—a time when the seeds of planning and a sprinkle of planting start to take root. Let me reiterate what I mentioned in the "About Me" section: I'm no gardening maestro. This corner of the internet won't be dishing out expert advice or claiming to know all the best practices. My adventure outdoors is fueled by my bliss derived from digging in the soil, and finding total delight in the triumphs, no matter how small.
Gardening, for me, is a journey that unfolds in three meaningful ways: it's about the beauty that words can't capture, cultivating fresh and delightful bites for my plate and yours, and savoring a bit of outdoor therapy—far more budget-friendly than the alternative. I am the perpetual student in my garden, eagerly soaking up every lesson my little backyard haven has to offer.
This month, in addition to the daily clean up of debris in the yard, I have been focused on three things: (1) expanding the footprint of the vegetable garden in back and the flower beds in the front (2) adding new cedar mulch to my garden paths and (3) building my pea trellis and then planting a mixture of sugar and English shelling peas. I was also happy to spy some little green sprouts from my Anise Hyssop that I planted last year. For the flower beds in the front yard, I’m going to go a little crazy and really cover as much space as possible with sunflowers, zinnia and cosmos, along with my rosemary and lavender sidewalk border. One new addition will be some beautiful poppy seeds that I got in my stocking at Christmas. I planted those last week. Fingers crossed. And as always, one of my favorites, the nasturtium, will be sown anywhere there is a bit of unused soil. So excited!
As there is not much to see in the garden at the moment, I’ll share the evolution of my garden from the last 18 months.
