You Grow Girl

December 30, 2011

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My Year in Gardening: 2011

I wrote a reflections post for 2010, and thought it would be good to end this year in the same way, especially since it gives me the opportunity to revisit some experiences that I did not cover very thoroughly.

[This photo and at top of page] My garden in September 2011.

Year Start

I started the year with a new D.I.Y grow-light system, more seedlings than I could handle, and a sloping bowling alley of scrubby grass and weeds that I hoped to transform into a garden. As a testament to my stubbornness and determination, I somehow managed (with a lot of help from Davin) to pull it off amidst finishing the editing, photography, and design of my third book, traveling to Thailand, working on a potential TV show, and other deadlines. I was so excited about the space I was out there any chance I could get, often until it go so dark that I couldn’t see anymore. I love having this new garden. It’s the best thing about 2011 and I can’t wait to get back out there in the spring to see what comes of the bulbs and perennial plantings, work on refining the overall layout, and discover a new year of wonders and experiments.

Year End

These last few months of the year have been trying and spiritually exhausting. I’m burned out and feel like a shell of my former self. It is for the first time that I find myself really relishing the idea of a year’s end and starting from a renewed and fresh perspective in January. More than ever I hope to walk into the new year feeling revitalized and ready to take on some of the ideas and adventures I’d like to work on in 2012. As you read this post, we are either on our way to or have arrived in the desert, where we will be enjoying some much-needed respite from the cold.

Friends, I’m going to touch, see, and be in the desert soon!!!!!! There aren’t enough exclamation points in the world to express my enthusiasm.

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December 29, 2011

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The Butterfly Amaryllis

Every year I try to buy at least one new amaryllis bulb. What seems like a needless expense in the fall when I am still coming down from a bright and plentiful growing season, is almost essential by the time the long grey days of winter kick in. That little boost of colour and life is worth every penny.

I bought this year’s amaryllis, Hippeastrum papillio aka Butterfly amaryllis back in late September while I was at a garden shop picking up spring flowering bulbs for the garden. I have been longing to acquire this beautiful variety for years, but the price — often over $25 per bulb — put me off. Ever driven by a deal, I threw caution to the wind when I found mine at a $3.00 discount. Hey, it was the last one in the bin!

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December 21, 2011

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Please Allow Me to Get This Small Awkwardness Out of the Way

I know that I haven’t posted much about gardening lately. Frankly, I haven’t posted here in over a week now, period. I have started and stopped many times. I starting working on the follow up to the series on garden writing. And then I backtracked and started a second follow-up post that I have since abandoned. Last week I wrote a piece on the massive bounty of Jerusalem artichoke that I dug up from the garden, but it was so meandering, shoe-gazing, and long-winded that I had to permanently sequester it to my drafts folder to retain the little dignity that I still have.

Since then, I have considered writing out the Jerusalem artichoke pickle recipe that I canned earlier this week. I am rather proud of it. But how-to.. ugh… not in the mood. I have toyed with countless rundowns of the fermentation experiments I am currently enjoying and the interesting things I have encountered, but it all seems like too much. Too big.

Since my cat died, I haven’t had an inordinately difficult time finding joy. I have felt a lot of sadness, but good feelings and play have coexisted alongside. One of my happy places has been combing through PetFinder looking at rescue dogs and fantasizing about adopting one. Dogs, being very different from cats, are a soothing source of comfort now. Cats are a sad reminder of the girl we just lost. I pet one last week when I went into a pet store to pick up holiday food for my fish tank. The cat was long-haired and pretty like ours. It was sitting at the counter when I went to pay. Right up in my face and impossible to ignore. I forced myself to pet her but the feeling was uncomfortable.

I have posted several pictures of my day-to-day holiday doings and personal experiments on my Instagram and Flickr accounts. I continue to run at the mouth on Twitter. Not even grief will stop me from putting my foot in my mouth on an hourly basis! The first, hot-off-of-the-press, early, full-colour, printed and bound copy of my new book, Easy Growing: Organic Herbs and Edible Flowers from Small Spaces arrived in the mail. That was exciting to see, although I have since come up with at least one recipe that I REALLY wish could be added in. Alas, that always happens. PR work has begun and we did some more work on the trailer over the weekend.

And as for writing, well, I’ve managed to pull off work-related writing that needed doing. But when it comes to this site, everything that comes out of my fingers is meandering, unfocussed, and kind-of embarrassing, really — not unlike what you are reading right now!

So, I don’t know. It seems like I need to approach things in small chunks. Or perhaps just get this strange awkwardness out of the way before I can get back into the swing of things. Consider this the releasing of that awkwardness.

Let’s talk about you. What are you doing right now? What are you making, receiving, enjoying, growing, experimenting with, eating these days?

p.s. Happy Solstice! The days are going to get longer and hopefully brighter from here on out.

p.s.s. Threaded comments have been implemented to the site. It will make responding and conversing so much easier!

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December 12, 2011

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Until Then

We lost our beloved cat this weekend. I’ll be back on Wed to pick the winners of the giveaway, but beyond that I can’t say what will happen here over the next week. Making the sentences with the words doesn’t feel particularly appealing right now.

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December 9, 2011

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Finding Your Voice as a Garden Writer (Part 1): Sorry, No Authority Here, Ma’am

“To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me an authority myself.”

- Albert Einstein

Back in June, I travelled to Denver, Colorado to give two talks at the Denver Botanic Gardens, one of which was titled as you see above: Finding Your Voice as a Garden Writer. While my in-person presentation was an audio-visual extravaganza that included personal stories, rapidly flailing arms (I am a hand-talker), group hugs, a Kumbaya sing-along, AND unicorns (I am not kidding about the unicorns), I thought it might be helpful to share some of the points that I made (minus the unicorns) over here.

I’ve decided to break this up into a series of posts. This was one of my very favourite presentations to give (despite the fact that it caused wretched anxiety for weeks beforehand) and I have a lot to say on the topic. A short post just wasn’t cutting it. Over the coming weeks I will roll out more points.

Find, Finding, Found

Before I begin with the first point, I need to address the meaning of the title. You see, I could have entitled this talk, “How to Find Your Voice as a Garden Writer“, but I was very careful to use the word “finding” instead. I have enough experience now to know that voice is an evolution that comes with you as you live your life and grow as a person. There is no definitive voice to be found, no destination to arrive at full of self-satisfaction and arrogance.

….Aaaaannnndddd. Done. Found it!

Whether we like it or not, we all change. It only stands to reason that if all is going well, we will also change and evolve how we write and what we write about. I have found this to be true for me. I am a work in progress. I too am always in the process of becoming, growing, developing, changing… As I go through the process of living and working my issues out: