Helen at Gardening with Confidence is putting in her own potager and was at my talk at the Davidson Horticultural Symposium.
Thanks, Helen. I’m glad you enjoyed the pretty, inspiring photos! Dig on!
Robin Ripley
I set off quite a stir with my guest post at Garden Rant. I have a love for over-stating things and I suppose I over-stated one too many times. Boy, am I taking a beating!
I feel badly that so many people thought I was taking aim them for having some weeds in the garden. Heck, I have weeds in my garden! I have apologized for my smart-ass remark about being embarrassed by some “gardeners.” I do get a bit carried away.
But I stand by my point that gardens take work, need maintenance and can be improved overall with some attention to design. I’m baffled that people would take issue with this.
There is a whole range of maintenance (or lack thereof) between the finely manicured potagers you see in the magazines and the type of garden I was taking about in my guest post—the one that was planted and never given another thought. It sounds like most of us, myself included, fall somewhere in the middle along that spectrum. Unfortunately, people interpreted my post as criticism of anyone who isn’t “clutching at pearls in their potagers.” That’s not true. I’m talking about abandoned, ugly gardens that have had no care.
Our instant gratification society has led some of us to believe that any effort is a good effort and everything should be as easy as pushing a button. I believe we do a disservice to would-be gardeners by perpetuating the myth that they can grow luscious rows of bountiful vegetables without putting in some effort. Gardening (life!) isn’t a six-year-old soccer team where everyone wins a trophy for showing up. Gardening can be damn hard work and I think people should go into the endeavor with realistic expectations.
Do I want people to give gardening a try? Certainly. Will they make mistakes along the way? Absolutely. We all do. But do I think gardening is for everyone? No. If you don’t have the energy and the time to pull some weeds and water when there is a drought, you’ll probably be disappointed unless you modify your expectations and scale back to what you can care for.
Many of the people who took issue with my post criticized me for not being encouraging of new gardeners. I will probably get pilloried again for stating again that gardens take work.
Okay, that said, I apologize for offending so many people. But hey, if we really want people to connect with the earth and grow food, let’s all pull some weeds, create healthy gardens and inspire with our results—both beauty and bounty.
The nice folks over at Garden Rant gave me the opportunity for my own little rant today where I talked about the “Dark Side of Grocery Gardening.”
My point is that as gardeners, we should take care of our vegetable gardens with proper maintenance and at least enough attention to design to support the plants and allow us to maneuver around to weed. That way our vegetable gardens are pleasing rather than eyesores. Our gardens will inspire people to vegetable gardening rather than turn them off to the idea altogether.
Who would have thought a call to weed would get people in such a huff?
Robin Ripley
Right Now at Bumblebee
May Day! May Day!
Calm down. No one’s in distress here by the Chesapeake Bay. It’s just May 1—May Day!
A little trip over to Wikipedia enlightened me about this very special day. Apparently (although I did not pull out my calendar to fact check), May 1 is exactly half a year from November 1. (*head slap*) Wikipedia did not say that May 2 is exactly half a year from November 2, so I wondered why this was really relevant or even interesting. Well, turns out that both May 1 and November 1 are raucous pagan holidays. Where are the silly string and funny hats?
And right there in the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article it says, “May 1 is…usually a public holiday.”
Seriously? Cause no one told my boss (aka me). No one told my husband’s boss (aka Uncle Sam). I bet your boss didn’t tell you either. Surely there is a conspiracy afoot.
So, since we’re all working on a holiday—because Wikipedia says it’s so—let’s get some cupcakes and go sit in the garden, okay?
See you there.
It was a bad day Chez Bumblebee.
First, the chicken flock is very put out that I decided not to indulge their daily afternoon walkabout routine. They complained loudly when I went out to the coop to explain to them that I did not feel like walking around behind seven naughty chickens dislodging newly planted seedlings and poking said seedlings back into their designated holes.
Second, our antique cat, Miss P, was very put out that I decided to vacuum up copious amounts of dog hair for the third time in about seven days, thereby disrupting a perfectly good 23.75-hour nap.
And third, the little dogs are running around like rabid squirrels because I haven’t yet fed them their “special dinner” and am instead sitting here typing about how the other animals are all put out with me.
The end.
Robin
Today I am grateful that in this country I have the opportunity to voice my opinion without fear of being imprisoned, tortured or having my house burned down and family beaten.
I am grateful for the opportunity yesterday to work with a very kind and gentle photographer who didn’t dismiss my opinions and ideas and who worked with me as a partner on a new book photo shoot.
I am also happy and grateful for yet another beautiful day in Southern Maryland. You should come and visit.
Robin
My heart has had a roller coaster ride the past couple of weeks. People and pets I love have gone through major surgery and are, happily, recovering. My pet I will tell you about…
Sophie is the older of my two Papillons. She has always had a bit of a breathing problem, but as the years and middle-aged weight gain have crept up on her, breathing has become a major issue.
We visited a veterinary surgeon a couple of weeks ago. Sophie was operated on for an elongated soft palate and a collapsed pharynx. The surgeon could not repair her collapsed trachea, a condition that will require a different veterinarian at a different hospital far away.
We wake at night and listen to her breathe. A couple of nights after surgery, at about 3 in the morning, she seemed to stop breathing. Yes, I was listening to every single rasping breath. I snaked my hand out from under the covers to touch her and ensure she was alive. I found my husband’s hand doing the exact same thing as our hands met in the dark.
Sophie was alive. And she’s not in this alone. She is much loved.
Robin
Garden and food writer Robin Ripley is co-author of Grocery Gardening and has a cookbook in development. Bumblebee is about her life in rural Maryland, her garden, cooking, dogs and pet chickens. She also blogs about food and chickens at Eggs & Chickens.
She is on Twitter @robinripley Welcome! Thank you for visiting.
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