Audrey Hepburn is quoted as saying “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow”. To plant a garden is definitely a long term project. Seeds don’t just germinate overnight and bear fruit in a week. You need to be patient and consistent. You need to keep the soil wet so that the seeds can germinate and then you have to nurture the little plants that have developed out of the seeds. Keep the soil damp, protect them from frost and weeds. Mulch around them so that the sun doesn’t scorch them. Give them the necessary nutrients to ensure that they will become happy, mature plants that bear good fruit. Oh yes, and keep them free from pests!
Spinach plants with a mulch of fallen leaves
Onions!
My onions are ready to be transplanted and I’m planning to do that on Monday. They are going to go well with the cabbage plants I’m getting from my mom. Apparently they are good companions. The whole process from planting to harvesting is different for every variety. Some plants like radishes mature very quickly and can be harvested in no time at all. They are ideal starter plants if you’ve never had a garden but others like pineapples take two years before they bear fruit. Its really easy to grow a pineapple. You just take the top that you have cut off a pineapple, put it into the soil, and make sure it stays moist until you’re sure its growing. Within a week or so you’ll see the new leaves appearing at the centre of the top you planted. The sweetest pineapples are the small Queen variety with small tops.
Here is a pineapple growing amid the mulch of leaves. In two years I should be able to eat a fresh home-grown pineapple.
Now while you wait for your pineapples to grow make sure that you invest in your own future as well. Make sure that you eat healthy food, get enough exercise and get enough rest. Take some time out to do things that make you happy. Two weeks ago my husband and I took advantage of having the weekend off and had a picnic on the beach on the Sunday. The weather was lovely (in winter we actually have some days that the wind doesn’t blow) and the tide was very low. We walked across the beach and had lunch in a little cove. Things like that are the things that memories are made of. That is the kind of investment that makes sense to me. Memories are something that no-one can ever take away from you. You can get robbed and lose your possessions, your car can get stolen and you can make a bad investment and lose all your money but memories are forever.
My daughter and I recently painted some signs for my garden on some roof sheeting.
So, plant pineapples in your garden and in your soul. Invest in your future and nurture the people you love.
alexfromalexblog 