Hey guys,
I just wanted to share a few quiet thoughts about my first grow… and a few pictures.
Earlier this year I felt that my life had become horribly vanilla. I was angry, frustrated, and I felt an irrepressible urge to do something slightly rebellious. Over the last several years I’ve become a self-taught gardener, and periodically I’d had the idea that it might be kind of fun to create my own ‘herb garden’.
Problem was, my yard is pretty visible to the general public, plus I have small kids and there are some concepts that I’d prefer not to introduce them to until they were a little bit further along in life.
But attached to my bedroom was this tiny little balcony that had sat idle for years – I’d always kept it locked when my kids were really small because a fall from it would have been fatal.
I looked at the dirty, empty balcony and I thought ‘I wonder if I could do something special with that space…’ I decided that as a surprise project for my wife, I’d turn it into a little ‘secret garden’ (with a little secret of my own growing in amongst the plants).
I decided I’d try to create a special little space full of wonderful textures to enjoy (and to camouflage my herb) and a range of colours and smells.
I planted basil and rosemary, lavender and even honeysuckle. Potatoes, tomatoes, catnip and even giant sunflowers.
When my wife found out what I’d done, she was floored. She absolutely loved it, and didn’t even realize that there were some extra plants in there until I sheepishly fessed up! The hummingbirds loved it too! I’ll be sitting in my secret garden with my morning coffee and I kid you not - the hummers will actually be brushing up against my feet trying to get at the honeysuckle flowers!
I’ve gotten so much satisfaction out of creating and looking after this little secret garden – and turning my attention towards something that’s natural and has some beauty has been a great way for me to help shed some of the anger and frustration that has been in my life lately.
Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you awesome people who contribute here on this forum. I’ve been on the internet since just after it was invented, and in all my time navigating the web, I’ve encountered very few online communities as generous, thoughtful, intelligent, positive and open as this one. Honestly guys, if you keep acting this way you’re going to start ruining out bad reputation as cultivators, and then what will the general public do with their half-baked preconceptions?
So thanks…. Thanks for being a source of kindness, knowledge and encouragement. Not sure I could have done it without you.
Hobbygardener