What
got you into gardening?
When I was a young lad people would ask me what I wanted to
be when I grew up. My reply was to be wise. People asking were expecting me to
say an exciting job like fireman but for me being able to say the right thing
at the right time to someone was my aspiration.
Before my teenage years I actually thought that anyone over
the age of about twenty were automatically wise and had not only the answers to
all of life’s problems but also didn’t make mistakes as they had done them all
before the end of their teenage years. There was a part of me that was
directionless and unambitious and this came into play because I thought the
only think I had to do to be full of worldly wisdom, advice and answers, was to
come out of my teenage years and have an easy ride the other side.
It wasn’t too long before I realised that to be good at
anything you have to put in a lot of time and energy and to in a position of
worldly wisdom you have to keep making mistakes and learning from them as well
as being caring and a good listener.
I eventually concentrated my time and energy to growing
plants, and maybe after spending thousands of hours doing gardeny things, I
might have developed a bit of plant wisdom, but certainly not when it comes to
people, that’s different thing altogether.
If anyone comes for life tips and advice I tend to laugh at
inappropriate times, keep a silly grin on my face, come out with totally
unrelated topics and suggest they talk to Julie as I slowly walk backwards to
the door. If I can’t change the conversation to plants then I’m lost. After
saying that not all of my words of wisdom are of any use in the garden either,
there was that time I told someone to put garden slugs in the bin (about 100 of
them). They did just that, putting them alive in their kitchen bin (not the
wheelie bin outside) only to be greeted with them all over the house for the
next few weeks. I’ll stick to gardening and leave the wisdom bits to Julie,
she’s a better listener than me, I just usually wait for the other person to
stop taking so I can talk about vegetables.
And talking of vegetables….
Garden Influences
I was asking a few people about what got them started in a
lifelong love of gardening, it could be something as simple as rooting a
cutting in a jam jar. I asked if there was a particular person that influenced
them in this wonderful hobby.
Here are a few of their answers:
Lona: My mother loves to grow flowers, but I'm more
practical...I like a "reward" for my efforts! Mam and I live together
so the compromise was I would keep planting the flowers she loves (She's almost
84) if she would share her knowledge of vegetables.
Eric Beuning: When
I was growing up my mam worked a lot of double shifts. So I was essentially
raised by an old Italian woman next door. She taught me the garden to plate
philosophy she grew up with in Naples. She also ran a restaurant during her
working life so she taught me how to do a lot of things in the kitchen. She had
no children of her own. So I'm the only keeper of her heirloom seeds and
recipes. Now I teach these things to my two and a half years old daughter.
Ramona : My mother always had a huge garden and when I
was young, she would have me help her. Although I grouched about helping her, I
did like the one-on-one time with her.
Paul : I remember
going to my mams parents as a kid and they always had a nice garden.
Elaine: My dad. Some of my best times with him were planting
seeds and pulling weeds. He was my inspiration and I always think of him when I
am 'playing' in my garden.
Linda: It was my mam. I was a bit of a surprise baby
and the other kids were older. I had a delightful first 5 years when all the
others were off at school I had her to myself. I remember many hours spent in
the garden, planting seeds, picking raspberries to have on my cereal in the
morning.
Jeff: My
influence is my grandfather. It's actually my father who tells the stories
about how they grew up gardening and living off the land. My grandmother
preserved hundreds of jars of food before fridges. The stories I've been told
and what I saw when we visited over the holidays, really sparked my interest. I
picked it up as a young teenager and still going at it 43 years later. I hope
one of my grandchildren inherited this gene and I become that person in their
lives someday. If I was doing a scientific study, I bet our gardens keep us
emotionally tied to these people, giving us a much healthier outlook on life.
