Foodie Friday: The Good Earth

"Land is one's flesh and blood."

--Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth

Last weekend, I planted a few perennials.

The false dragonheads looked like something that would grow in a pasture,

tall and weedy. They're called the "Obedient Plant," because the gardener can shape them any which way. They can also spread like crazy (viral obedience?). The variety I planted is called "Miss Manners" and isn't supposed to spread. I kinda hope they do. When (if) they bloom, the delicate white flowers will seem to float over the garden.

 

A few days later, wildness rose up inside me, and I decided that the false dragonheads needed something in front of them. Something low and sprawling.



 

At Home Depot, I reminded myself to buy in "threes," knowing full well that that I would never follow this good advice. I packed the Jeep with flowers and took off. I wanted to dig the holes myself--no help from the menfolk. So Bandwidth kindly offered to take photos with his iPhone.

 

He was rendered speechless.

 

I may have mentioned my poor hole-digging talents.

I had brought two shovels--a farm tool and a girly shovel--and a trowel. A long while later, I'd made little headway, what with the network of roots and irrigation hoses that snake through the ground.

Sweaty and frustrated, I finally found a patch of earth that was obstacle-free. I sat down in the dirt and attacked the hole like a burrowing animal.

 

"What are we, like, having for supper?" Bandwidth wanted to know.

 

"Go on now," I said. "I'm digging."

 

"I didn't think you were in the mood for gardening," he said.

 

 

"I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that.

Your mind must know it has got to get down to work."

-- Pearl S. Buck

 

 

Placing the liriopes 12" apart was dicey. I was lucky to find a patch of object-free earth.

 

Okay. Good.

I was red-faced, breathless, and half dead.

How did I let myself get into terrible shape?

 

I kept going.
I had a huge "to-do" list.





 

"But still one thing remained to him and it was his love for his land. "

--Pearl S. Buck, The Good Earth

 

 

I planted five purple cone flowers...

... and three more white cones.

The goal was to create a streak of floaty white blossoms.
I tried to plant them in a pattern:

xx

xxx

 

The good earth would not cooperate!

Next, after dousing myself with the hose, I gave the flowers a drink and put out deer repellent. 

 Sometimes life is like an obstacle-filled flower bed.
 

Take root where you can and don't worry about what might have happened,
or what stood in your way.
 

 

Last weekend, the guys had helped me plant a few white cones.

 

I added newbies where I could. 



"Growth itself contains the germ of happiness."

 

-- Pearl S. Buck

Bandwidth helped me deadhead the lavender--we pulled up the long wands

and snipped.  (I've still got some trimming and shaping to do.)

The cuttings will be tied with twine and purple ribbon.

Won't they make fragrant Thanksgiving gifts!

 

 

I pulled juicy weeds and left them for the deer.
 

 

Tired to my bones, I gathered my tools and empty pots.
I looked like I'd been rolling in Devil's food cake crumbs, and I didn't care.
(I enjoy getting my hands into flour and dough just as much.)

Who knew that I would love gardening this much?

It's a gift.




"To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth."

-- Pearl S. Buck

 



Now I am pondering the empty spaces.
What would you plant in a sunny spot?
A dovecote? Flowers? Colors?

 



 

I'll fight roots and rubber hoses, and even electrical cords.

That's okay. I can't wait to step into the nursery, load my red wagon, and

sink my hands  into the good earth.

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