Friday, June 16, 2006

The World Needs More Gardeners



We're away from Whoville today. We drove on a most gorgeous day away from the city. True, we drove to another city but we're still outside Montreal in Pierrefonds so it's a little more peaceful. I'm looking forward to my morning run here before the heat settles in and the construction and traffic noise fills the air. It's lovely running along the water here. There's also a beautiful little park called Bois de Liesse (i think) that is softer trails and it connects with the bike path that cuts across the town. All this and it's completely flat. Whoville is pretty hilly when I think about some of the running routes I have. It's pretty difficult to do a long run and not have to conquer some pretty steep inclines.

Anywho...
the garden.
Our garden. I miss our garden. Talking to sis on the phone tonight, she mentioned a job interview for a landscape company that she has on Monday (which is great for her!) and how happy she is in the garden. The time flies by and so much is achieved and there's a wonderful connection with the earth and life from the soil, the plants, water, the air. She's excited about this new direction in her life and I get it. The world needs more gardeners. This is especially true of those committed to organic gardening (which she is -- like all of us at our humble home in whoville). There's a great reward in the garden and it greets you everyday. I recently spoke to a catering colleague who has a small plot outside her tiny home. She took a prefabbed garden installed with the architecture town homes (there must be a set of plans out there that all these places build from because everything is starting to look the same. When did it become about the mulch?!). She took her tiny allotted plot and turned it into a perennial garden. She expressed the joy she gets by seeing her little plants thrive and watching them change everyday.

While I'm away from home, I miss my cats but I also miss my garden and watching it transform with each day. Already our tomato plants have flowers and a few small tomatoes have started to form. The hydrangea is about two weeks from blooming and has doubled in size from last year. The purple echinacea and white coneflower are also just waiting for their day. So...I've included some garden photos here. I'm so excited to be adding photos to my blog again. The white oriental poppy came and went so fast. It just seemed to be there one day and I snapped it's photo on its final day before the petals dropped. I'm also including one of the sky taken from my sister's deck because she gets the best views up there and I always try to remember to look up at the sky and see how it's changing.

Tomorrow we're off to the city to watch the Italy game at Romolos with D's brother and a friend. It'll be great fun I'm sure. Hopefully photos will follow again.

For now enjoy the moments of the garden.











4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the garden photos! I'm here in it, and it was a hot day, but you can ALWAYS garden, come what may.... The cats are surviving the heat, we are all flaked-out. The garden got a watering early this morning, and I'm praying for rain. Picatso was there to greet me this morning, and he seems to be enjoying the whoville garden as well.Even the incessant honking can't put a damper on the day!

Cheers,L

Anonymous said...

Your garden is so beautiful! It's totally inspiring. Are you a natural green thumb or have you been working at it for years? Do you grow food as well? That is something I started one year, but then I heard a rumour that there used to be a lead plant in my neighbourhood and that discouraged me from doing it again. Now my backyard is very wild-looking...although there's something pleasing about that too. Every year we get new mystery plants that blew in from somewhere else!

Wandering Coyote said...

Wow - you've found a way to upload pictures! I'm so glad. These are great shots, too.

Just catching up a bit while I have the chance...

sp said...

Julia, I only took up gardening once we moved into this house we're in. Much of the garden already existed and some of the plants have been here for who knows how long. We learned by trial and error and of course reading gardening books to help solve problems or give us inspiration. My sister is a green thumb and I learned a lot from her. Last year her partner, R. helped us redesign the garden (he's a landscaper) and we moved a lot of plants around added rocks and more variations of greens and blooms. I'd be willing to help you with your garden if you need to re-work it.

Wandering, always good to have you drop by. I found a helpful computer in Pierrefonds to upload pictures.