With Thanksgiving this Thursday, I decided it was time to write down a list of the things I’m thankful for this year in my garden.
I’m thankful for how gorgeous my bulbs were this past spring. I may not always be grateful for chilly gray winter days, but spring finally comes. And as hungry as I am for spring, I enjoy every single tulip and daffodil and crocus that blooms. And, the bulbs don’t mind the winter at all. As a matter of fact, they need it to bloom well.
I’m thankful that the lemon balm that “escaped” from the pot on my patio and migrated out into my backyard still has not made it to the front yard. Yet…
I’m thankful that I did not get inundated with squash bugs this year. Keeping my garden free of debris over the winter and rotating where I grow my squash (and checking the plants early in the season to pick off the nymphs when they’re looking for a place to lay eggs) really helped.
I’m thankful that, even though all my cucumbers got wilt and died, the farmers who participated in our Farmers Market did not have the same problem so I still had cucumbers for my salads.
And I ate a LOT of salads because I had a bumper crop of tomatoes. I froze them, I canned them, I sauced them, and I ate them raw in salads for lunch and grilled them for dinner and gave them away by the bagsful. Yeah, I’m thankful I had SO many tomatoes…um, I think.
I’m thankful for every single solitary bee—honey or bumble—that I saw in my garden this year. I just wish I had seen more. I actually had to step in and hand-pollinate my squash blossoms because of it. Next year, I’ll plant more bee-friendly flowers.
I’m thankful for the fragrant herbs that I grow around the outside of my vegetable garden. Not only do I get to use and enjoy them, but deer don’t like them and they leave my vegetable garden alone!
What’s more, the herbs even have some insect repellent properties. I guess a moth looking to lay eggs for squash vine borers might have trouble finding the squash if all it can smell is parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
I’ve heard we appreciate most that for which we’ve had to work the hardest. I work hard every year on my garden. There are times when I’m flopped on the sofa in front of the TV with a heating pad on my back and asking myself “What was I thinking planting all this stuff?”
And then I go out in my yard and smell the herbs around my garden and see the flowers blooming, the butterflies and hummingbirds fighting over the bee balm and I know why I do this.
More than anything else, I’m thankful that I HAVE a garden to obsess over, worry over, and play in. I’m thankful that every year I learn something new—and thankful that there is still so much yet to learn—new seeds or plants to try and new/old techniques to learn and experiment with. And I’m grateful I have family and friends to share it with.
And one very, very special gift I am especially thankful for is you, my readers, and my customers.
May Your Thanksgiving be special in every way.
So few people recognize the importance of gratitude….all the little things we take for granted, such as your wonderful garden, the tiny life that supports it and the earth that receives it back when it has run it’s course.
So easy to feel gratitude for something beautiful, fragrant, and tasty; so difficult to feel the same gratitude for the necessary unpleasant.
We are grateful for all the help you are willing to share with us.
Nancy–Thank you! I’m grateful that I love what I do and get to share it with others!
I just read your thankful blog and so appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts with us. I am thankful for all the guidance you’ve given me throughout the years and for reporting my orchids in the winter! See you soon, Bonnie.
Linda, I never mind repotting your orchids! Bring ’em in any time!
Thanks for your lovely and joyful article.