This past weekend was GORGEOUS!
dirty, sweaty, happy!
It was the first chance to really see how far we have come since we began this project outside. It’s an investment of hope, time, and our future (in regard to vegetables and enjoying our outside space). Like everyone, my mental health is struggling with the social isolation. I am blessed in my home, and family, and this weekend we really made a choice to enjoy both – even though there will still work to be done!
On Saturday, we sat on our “new” patio and enjoyed the sunshine. I finally was able to set up my reading corner in which James brought an unused bowl chair up from the basement, and we laid out a carpet to protect bare toes. I read for hours and managed to get a bit of color. On Sunday, I video chatted with my family and was able to give them a little tour of all the hard work that we have done.
We need to take the time to do these things for ourselves!
It made the weekend feel like a holiday.
Now, in regard to our plants, we are still a couple weeks away from the vegetables going outside and planting our new seeds, but that doesn’t mean we are twiddling our thumbs and waiting! I have a lot of stubborn dirt under my nails from my efforts over the weekend.
Beyond the vegetables, we have been working on making an enjoyable outside space.
This past weekend, I really focused on putting together an container herb garden. I had planted a few herbs over the past weekends, but had missed one of the most crucial steps by filling the base of the containers with gravel. My thyme was swimming in mud! This weekend, I added a few more herbs to my collection and gave them all a little love, aka. repotting and fresh soil.
For herbs, I have planted basil, dill, mint, peppermint, lavender, and rosemary. I cannot wait for them to take root, sprout up and be ready to use in our cooking.
Beyond the herbs, I also managed to plant a clematis flower to grow into our chain link fence. It should have bright purple flowers that I hope smell incredible. I have set it up right next to where I read, something hope will be as good as it sounds!
We were even lucky to happen across some free furniture that we were able to use outside! An old mirror, that’s lost it’s relfection but not it’s light, and a little table with carved hearts. They both add a little creativity in our ‘secret garden.’ They both make it just a little bit warmer in our city garden.
It is all coming together, and I am so in love! It has been such a team effort with James, and I am very grateful to his understanding of my need to be surrounded by plants. Inside and outside, having something to nurture helps to fill the days with a light meditation. Water the plants, pulling off the dead, trimming to allow the new, and growing them into bigger planters and fresher leaves.
Oddly, I feel that I have never been more excited about the coming summer (which is something I’m certain that I say every year). I romanticize being able to sit outside in the morning with my coffee before work even begins, to read, journal or draw. The sound of the birds, surrounded by lovely smelling plants.
Hopefully, social isolation works quickly so I am able to invite loved ones over to enjoy our space, but until then, I will have to share our hard work and progress through this blog.
An unorganized, emptying of my thoughts.
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