Every year they make it easier for us to grow something in our yards or balconies.
Gardening, no matter how large or small, can be a healing and productive way to spend part of your day. Watching plants grow and produce vegetables, or some wonderful and beautiful flowers is good for the heart and soul. And this is a good way to teach children about eviromental concerns and what it takes to grow the food we consume.
This year I am in Magdalena de Kino, Sonora, Mexico; and do not know how my new plants will tolerate this extremely high desert temperatures. Some of my plants get about 8 hours of direct sunlight while others get about five.
Part of my plants are in some exciting and innovative planter boxes, while others were placed directly into the rocky soil of my yard. It is all a most interesting kind of experiment to see how these plants produce.
While some are already flowering, we have yet to see any evidence of any product growing. And I have not seen any bees. Bees are a very important part of production, since they pollinate all of the flowers. Pesticides and herbicides have killed off many bee populations as well as other animals who ingest these chemicals.
We may have to manually pollinate my plants by taking a small paint brush and gently touching each flower and hoping for the best. When I lived in Micronesia I had to pollinate my plants by hand, and it worked.
I have planted three kinds of chilis, two kinds of tomatoes and squashes, and some cucumbers to have some products to celebrate “El Cinco De Mayo”.
My mother loved growing flowers and even counted the 12 of us children, as some of her flowers. She would come home after 12 to16 hours of work as an LPN nurse, and still have energy and interest in watering and caring for her plants.
The system I am using this year, The Garden Patch Growbox, can be used anywhere, no matter how limited your space is. It is good, since it gives you the box, plant nutrients and a guide for planting. You can go online and find a variety of plant growing systems, but I have found this one to be the most functional and productive. Plus, you can do as many boxes as you want or have space for.
There is something good and healing about growing something and watching the flowers bloom. Sometimes I just go out in the yard a couple times a day to enjoy the plants and leave my computer behind and all the work that I have, and just take a deep breath and enjoy living the moment.
Plant something and enjoy life.
