What I have learned about life by growing a garden

I have tried to garden before, but was never very successful.  I tend to be impulsive and struggle with time spent watering.  However, this winter I finally found success! (maybe because I wasn’t working 80 hours a week…hmmm)  I loved watching things grow!!!  My winter garden was pretty easy to take care of.  I felt more confident in my gardening and wanted to branch out.  I asked help from a more experienced gardener and went for it.  I found some success and some failure.  These successes and failures made me think deeper about how the gardening system works eg. Seed, soil, water, sun and the keys to how these elements truly interact to create the happiest environment for growth.  I then, of course, started thinking about life and the interactions of certain elements that help us to bloom, grow and create the fruits of happiness. 

 So here are my thoughts on this subject.  Remember, I am still an amateur gardener and an amateur person.  I have many flaws in how I approach gardening and life, but I am learning and willing to grow.

*Let’s start with seed, for if ye have not seed ye shall not grow (my own proverb….you are welcome)

            My view of seeds when I first started gardening was the more the merrier!!  Throw the seeds to the wind and let them plant!  Yes, I am very aware there is a whole chapter in the scriptures on where seeds land.  It happens to be fairly accurate.  I tended to crowd things in and decided that I would let natural selection take its course.   Well, it kind of does.  However, the stronger can plants destroy the more delicate ones.  This was frustrating as I wanted basil and chives, but basil said, “no way chump”  and the chives failed. If I had a better understanding of the growth tendency of each plant I would have been able to put it in the right environment and allow them to grow at their own rate and with the nurturing that they each individually needed.  

            You can see where this is going eh?  How often weexpect everyone to perform the same under a set of circumstances.  I forget that I have had opportunities and personality traits that others do not.  Everyone needs a chance to be in an environment that both supports and challenges.  We need to make sure we aren’t pushing others out because of our own pet peeves, anxieties, projections of our own insecurities, needs to be recognized and biases.  We need to think about what others really need instead of what we want them to need.   I recently had this experience.  There was a woman I knew wanted me to visit and made a list of things she wanted me to do.  I was tired and wanted to get work done and kept thinking that she was wanting too much from me.  When I really stopped and pondered on her life and circumstances I realized what she really needed was just for me to care, to be there, to be listened to and see a friendly face.  She has been planted in a difficult circumstance and the growing is delicate.  Humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve I went.  I don’t know all the answers to seeds and how they should be planted…but I do know I really do need to read the tiny directions on the back of the package.  There are always clues if we take the time to slow down and figure it out.

*Soil and Water: If the soil is good and you water it-things should grow well…right?

            Ummm…ya, no.   Good nutrient rich soil is very important.  Water essential. However, it doesn’t always guarantee that your plants will continue to thrive just because you once put great soil in and you water it.  This is probably my biggest AHA! this gardening cycle.  We put in wonderful rich soil.  In my book the plants should have thought they were in heaven it was so great.  My goal was to be the best waterer ever. (waterer should be a word)   I planted the seeds in this awesome soil and watered and watered and watered.   The plants grew and flourished and looked so promising!  I was stoked!  But then, some of the zucchini started to rot on the plant.  How could that happen?  The plant looks healthy.  I’m watering.  Water has nutrients, it should make the most beautiful zucchini in the world! 

As I researched I found that heavy watering actually depletes the soil of the nutrients it needs.   I tend to water heavy, meaning I put it on a pretty good stream and fill up the planter fast.  It’s water right? Plants need it, so it shouldn’t matter how fast or slow it goes.  Wrong.   When it says water deep, you water slow and let it take its time.  This helps it retain the nutrients in the soil and hold on the nutrients from the water.  I also started adding extra nutrients to the soil in the form of compost.   Now my plants are happier than ever. 

            Slowing down, doing it right, making sure the important things are sticking.   So many times in life we truly think that the things that are important can be done fast and furious.  We throw ideas, rules, doctrine, expectations, learning, experiences at ourselves and those we love expecting them to sink in, be appreciated and built upon because it is good and good is good no matter how you get it.  Ya, not so much. We need to slow it down.  We need to allow processing time.  We need to let things simmer and soak and truly make an impact.  We need to take the time to make it authentic.  Guess what? It might take up some of your time….gasp….but it is worth it.  As I try to slow down and simmer and soak and when I try to teach important concepts to others, I have seen greater thoughtfulness, investment and love.  Oh, and my zucchini’s are rocking it. 

*Sun.  Light for plants good…but what if the heat doesn’t turn off?

            Arizona.  Summer.  Hottest summer in over 100 years.  Not the best combination for a garden.  I come home in the middle of the day, look at my poor wilting plants and feel sorrow that my plants look so terrible and it is stopping some of them from producing fruit and flowers.  I have learned that watering at night is an important key and not to give up though things look bleak and wilty. 

Watering at night helps the water to stay longer with the plants instead of evaporating in 110 degree heat.  This gives the plants a chance to have this essential piece of life working to protect it in the intense heat of the day.   In the morning, I get to look out and see everything looking strong and bright again.  Sometimes, things look bleak until September, but then, the temperature drops a bit and the plants returns to making fruits, vegetables and flowers! YAY! And it is time to put in your winter garden so you can harvest all winter long!

            We go through many periods of intense pressure, darkness, heat, pain and feel that it will never end.  It is taking the opportunity to fill our veins with essential nourishment that will help us stand up in heat of the day and say, I may wilt a bit, but I will keep standing up in the morning!  We can and have made it through everything that has been thrown at us so far.  What has been the most nourishing in your life?  I bet it is love and support of friends and family.  For many, including myself, it is also the gospel of Jesus Christ and knowledge and hope in my purpose and in the redeeming love of the Savior. 

Reach out with your roots.   Lap in every drop and then bloom!!!!!  Give, love, encourage and offer the fruits of your life to others and you always stand tall during the hardest of times.

There are many lessons I have learned and many, many more I need to learn and will learn.  I am grateful for the opportunity to grow and learn with my plants on this Earth.  That is the point friends.  We have been planted here and have had good soil.  We can’t let it decay, we have to make sure it is nourished and enriched and remember we are here to stand and not wilt.   All my love!