Yesterday, Christian and I attended a MOPS playdate at a local church. Afterwards, I decided to swing by our plot at the community garden, which is not far from the church. When we got there, I was overwhelmed by how much work there was to do. You see, it’s been so hot here in Arkansas that we have been neglecting our gardening duties. From the state of the plots surrounding ours, we were far from the only ones. It looks like several of us are going to have to put in quite a bit of work to prepare our plots for Fall planting season.
As we drove back home after doing a little tending, I began to think about how similar maintaining a garden is to being a parent.
1. You probably have grand visions of how awesome your garden will be.
2. Gardeners are all different. Some think long and hard about the plants they want to grow, how and where they will plant the seeds, and how often they should tend the garden. Others plant the things they love without doing much research, but still put in work to maintain the garden.
3. It can be a lot of hard work, yet feel very satisfying.
4. You tend to become more aware and wary of threats to your plants. A good portion of your time might be spent weeding these out and protecting your plants from harm.
5. It is a learning experience. Even if you have helped out in someone else’s garden before, you realize that doing it by yourself is another story altogether.
6. Plants require a lot of tending, pruning, guidance, and nourishment.
7. Some days you can feel overwhelmed by all that you have to do in the garden. Other days you get excited by all that you get to do and are just thankful that you have a garden.
8. The work you put into gardening makes you feel productive.
9. Gardening can be enjoyable and something that you look forward to.
10. You may think you suck at gardening in the beginning, but things get better as you go along.
11. You may still make mistakes, but you learn from them.
12. You may not realize how much you will love gardening until you start to do it.
13. Sometimes you wonder if all of your work will make a difference and worry that you didn’t do things properly.
14. Even though plants grow in the same plot and receive the same attention, they can all end up different.
15. Some plants require a lot more attention than others.
16. Some plants require more room to grow.
17. Your primary goal is for your plants to grow, be healthy, and be fruitful.
18. It’s best not to compare your gardens to other people’s gardens.
19. Even though you shouldn’t compare your garden to others, it is nice to have other gardeners to talk to and learn from.
20. No one is born knowing how to garden, but you can always learn.
