How Does Your Garden Grow?
Some literal and figurative thoughts. Being hopeful, listening and keeping an open mind.
Ask me about my garden today, and I can say I’m literally watering each day. There are itsy-bitsy sprouting seedlings that only last week were planted, while other seeds are taking longer to show their little green heads. Some larger things are growing, like chives waving their lavender heads, but best of all is the white blossoming strawberry plants with a few green fruits promising a harvest in mid-June.
The strawberries are a particular promise since my neighbor gave me some boxed strawberry seeds last spring. They came to nothing even though I watered and tried to take care of them. I had tried to grow strawberries before in another house, also to no avail. But I thought to persevere and, after much research, bought some Bare-Root plants. Again these plants failed to survive due to some inquisitive squirrels who thought the strawberries would do better with a little of their own selective digging skills and possibly a buried peanut or two for added nutrition.
At this point, I thought to give up. Strawberries in my future would be purchased already-grown berries at the market.
I have tried to grow a few salad greens each year. My garden space is small, but stepping out my back door and picking some fresh green and spicey Turnip leaves or Romain lettuce is just too tempting to give up a garden altogether. Enjoying a colorful spray of Nasturtium blossoms all summer long and adding them to salads is so satisfying.
But the above question, How Does Your Garden Grow… often comes to mind figuratively, in the sense of what thoughts we are engaging in.
It happens more often than not that what we focus on in our ethereal interior occasionally manifests in some way in our outer experiences. Such as, when watering the garden this morning, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly just happened to fly by before my eyes, tipping its wings!
Surprised, I greeted this happenstance gratefully. It was like a character in a book I published coming to life. Research for my Butterfly Baby children’s book series began my renewed interest in gardening using natural methods—no commercial fertilizers or pesticides. Nature took a little longer but has rewarded us beautifully. Our yard is now a haven.
Butterfly Baby meets Mr. and Mrs. Toad at Siler Forest Pond.
Butterfly Baby Teacher-Parent-Student Book.
The squirrels are not so welcome, but even they seem to get the message that it is a good thing to share. Just in case, I cover up the seedlings in the evening with little plastic hats cut from the tops of large spring water jugs or drape them with tulle weighed down with a rock or two. These remain in place until my mid-morning watering time. Squirrels, shocked by the tulle, turn around after touching it.
The line, “How does your garden grow…” appears in the children’s nursery rhyme.
“Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row.”
a Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme.
A delightful rhyme that brings us to realize there is more to a garden than meets the eye, and with some imagination, transforms the ordinary into a fantastical theme to wonder at.
I had given up on Strawberries when something unexpected happened!
The following poem describes what happened on a walk last July, which tells the tale better than I could with prose.
The Missing Strawberries The other day I went Forest bathing Through trails that wound Beneath canopies of leafy greens All sunlit, they sparkled Shading paths and glens. I left all my cares To come what may, Leaving my chores, And missing strawberries Again… to some other day. I left off bemoaning; Those cheeky squirrel-Ellie's Who stole away With my just planted strawberries. Breathing deeply In this wooded vastness, So much greater than my garden nook, Yet alike in tiny living microcosms, Underground, in bushy forest crops And towering trees, All neatly corresponding In telepathic talk. It seemed a little eerie, As if magic beams surrounded me With sprinklings of effervescent light, Twinkling at each step, some mystery. What creatures live here? Hidden from ordinary sight Each communicating Their very own wise insight. Meandering, lost in thought, Elves lifted my feet Above the light-dappled path, And Faeries waved while Sliding down rays of sun-shiny streams. I was off in some curious daydreams, Mid-multi-conscious Mother Nature Who chuckled softly, slyly Like an ever-flowing babbling brook. Oh, so glorious… Was this an invitation to take Another look? What plant or creature awaits To be seen? What message from this Matrix Is there for me to glean? I met a Lady Bug Peeking out from behind A stem of purple grasses Who proceeded as if to say, "Alas… I'm surprised you found me." As she flew away, Across the winding footpath. A wild strawberry leaf Then quickly caught my eye. It made me stop Right there, in my tracks. Could I have heard An almost inaudible cry? "This well-trodden trail, Boohoo, it is so dry… Oh Please, take me home with you." So I gently grasped An almost dried-out stem With its four bedraggled baby runners Still attached… ahem! I hurried to plant them In my garden's empty spaces, Where they began Quenching their leafy faces, Stretching roots in many new places. Shoo… away with you, black squirrels! Precautions have been taken. They're safe now, in new homes, Securely, tucked under, Some homemade domes. Mornings now… they greet my watering; With varied green three-pointed leaves That breathe happy promises Of sweet red strawberries. I wonder… Is there some world-transcending ether Carrying messages via wordless telepaths, Where all you need, To do is... listen While walking on your paths?
Suffice it to say, I again bought some full-size cultivated Bare-Root Strawberries and planted them. After all, how could I ignore such a hopeful message?
Now here it is the end of May, and after having survived over the winter, these photographs show the strawberry bounty about to take place in June.
Cultivating Our Inner Life
Whatever our vocation or avocation, cultivating and relying on a fertile inner life means we tap into something larger than ourselves. Somehow as we persevere and keep answering the question… How Does Your Garden Grow? Some imagination presents itself in the inner workings of our mind, and if we listen, we find new words to plant and share.
May your day be blessed with a bountiful inner garden growing relentlessly, magically, and fully blooming with great ideas.
About Mother Goose
Who Mother Goose was is still unknown. An ancient French legend states that one of King Robert II’s (972-1031) three wives was an adept storyteller who amused children with her rhymes and called herself Mother Goose.
In 1697 Charles Perrault published “Les Conte’s de ma Mère l’Oie” (Tales of my Mother Goose), a collection of rhymes, folk, and fairy tales. It became famous throughout France. Robert Samber translated and published an English version called “Histories… Tales of Past Times, Told by Mother Goose” in 1729. It was brought to the USA as a new edition in 1786.
Here is a Special Thanks for an early childhood filled with Mother Goose Rhymes.
Thanks for reading my newsletter.
It is always great to hear from you.