*culture is not optional

Gardening lessons

Part 7 of 10

by Carol Vande Kraats

April

I'm sitting and looking at my yard today and dreaming.  There are things to do. A lot of raking needs to be done.  All the beds still have the clutter of last year's leaves on them and the ornamental grasses and some perennials need to be cut down.  The wind is blowing briskly and there's a clear blue sky. It’s a perfect spring day for working, but I have one small problem: an allergy to snow mould that keeps me inside.  I have to wait for someone else to cross this item off the to-do list.

So instead of getting antsy to be out there getting things accomplished, I have decided to plan.  The great thing about planning is that I can be as elaborate as I want for now.  The reality of putting it all in place is several weeks away and a lot can change by then.  So today I will decide if we will build a pond or a fountain or a potting bench in the barren back corner by the garage where nothing grows.  Notice that I said we.  The great thing about planning without really doing is that I can also enlist help from people who are unaware of their role in this scheme. I like the idea of a potting bench, actually.  Less upkeep and I really do need one.  Is this a real plan or a daydream?  Time will tell.

This year I want to plant blocks of colour in different parts of the yard.  Orange along the garage, I think. Yellow along the back and pink to the west. I have never done this before and I wonder how it will look. I usually plant midnight blue lobelia along the edges of the beds, but that doesn't fit the plan so I will put in some new plants.  It’s worth a try and if I don't like it, there is always next year.

My brother gave me a little wagon and told me I had to use it in the yard.  It is the last thing I got from him before he died, so it’s important for me to put that out.  It will go in the yellow section but I will put a few other colors in the wagon.  Kevin was colorblind, so it would have made no difference to him.  But for me, I want a lot of color to remember him.  He was a colorful sort of guy.

Planning. Right now I'm pretty whimsical.  In the end I will have to find a balance between my ideas, the pocket book and the time I have this summer. But there will be a plan.  I don't know how God made his plan.  Right now in my family, it doesn't seem very logical for my brother's family to be struggling without him in their daily lives and on the farm.   It’s hard to find the right balance in our minds. But there is a plan.  Just as all of the flowers I pick in a month or so will fit into the back yard, all the things we do and struggle with and take joy in fit into God's plan for the world.  Someday, it will be great to see how it all fits together, won't it?

Next:  September