Thanks for commenting–it is always good to meet my readers.

I am -very- happy to hear that I have been part of your inspiration to finally go out and start your own garden. Go on, girl, and grow a garden of delights rather than a boring old useless patch of lawn!

If you ever have any questions about gardening–let me know. If I don’t know the answer, or cannot find it, rest assured I know folks I can ask.

Good luck with your garden–and with law school!

But this isn’t why I finally decided to post a comment.

I’m a city girl. I was born in a major city and was raised in another one. But I was also raised in a family where fresh grown food was considered a staple. We had a summerhouse which boasted a huge garden thanks to the efforts of my grandparents. Even now that they live in Brooklyn, they have managed to transform the paltry backyard of their building into a small growing space with anything from tomatoes to raspberries.

So maybe it’s in my blood. Or something. I have been contemplating my own garden for years, rather idly. Now I am about to move to Long Island to attend law school and am going to rent a house with a number of housemates. I was pleasantly surprised that one of them has experience in growing her own garden.

And thus we are resolved to buck the suburban trend, ignore the call of the lawn mower and plant our way around whichever house it is that will get rented to our tender mercies. What we cannot grow, we will attempt to get locally when we can.

In some part, this plan has solidified because of your blog. And so I thought it was only fair to admit it.

Your grandparents sound like great gardeners, too. There is always something interesting happening in a garden, and I swear that gardening keeps older people spry and sharp for many, many years. It is very healthy to be outside playing with and puttering around plants. It keeps us young, in body mind and spirit.

Your grandparents sound like they rock!

Steph–there are things I do not do well. Higher mathematics are a mystery to me. It might as well be magick, it is so far over my head. I can still do algebra and geometry (which have applications in my daily life, so of course I can do them), but trig and calculus were and are yet beyond me. And that is fine.

As for spelling Faerie correctly–one must be ever vigilant in the correct useage of names and epithets when it comes to the Good Folk. Hence my care in spelling. Besides, folklore study has been a fascination of mine since childhood, so it is not surprising I know oddities like how to spell Faerie properly and difference between a selkie and a kelpie. I hope you have fun with those wildflowers!

Stephanie: autumn is a good time, too. The feeling of the exuberance of summer winding down, the preparation for a good long rest–all of these feelings are good ones.

If you want to grow blueberries, keep in mind they love acidic soil. I know folks who grow them in big planters or boxes filled with with sawdust or peat moss, or a combination of the two, and they get great harvests. That is just something to keep in mind….

Indira–you are right. Gandhi, whom I admire for many reasons, once said, “To forget how to dig the soil and tend the earth is to forget ourselves.” Even if he had never done any other wonderful thing in his life, even if he said nothing else so wise again, I believe I would love him and honor him for that one simple sentence alone.

To forget the soil and the earth is to forget ourselves.

Those are words that I strive to live by.

Gardening, however we do, in a big patch of land or in small containers, has this unique, ‘we are doing something worthwhile with our time’ quality and also brings peace and happiness. I love that about gardening. and I loved reading your post. Thanks for sharing.