Thistle Cove Farm

Add Another Layer of Joy

09:26, 2006-Mar-11 .. Link

We've having very unseasonably warm weather for March and I'm thinking and planning gardens. I have three gardens - herb, vegetable and flower and yesterday bought some {more} seeds. Sunflowers get planted here...a lot. What works better than a patch of sunflowers to really get a smile going. This year, I'm planting a patch of sunflowers with yellow mammoths in the back and shorter reds in the front along the driveway at the entrance to the farm. Flowers and vegetables do extremely well here due to the copious amounts of horse manure I use.

I also want to place two half barrels just inside the gates and will stuff those full of flowers. The gourds, cukes and spring peas will be planted so they can climb the fences. Aren't the small gourds just perfect! Those are so sweet and children really enjoy having something their size and the gourds look nice as a table centerpiece come harvest time.

Every year I do battle with myself because I want to plant flowers outside the fence. Not only is that a big mistake, it's also a waste of time and money. Every time someone drives cattle, sheep or horses down our road to another pasture, they all have to stop and munch whatever has been "thoughtfully" planted. I still need to move our mail box because it's been crashed into so many times by one beastie or another, the mail box leans at a crazy angle.

I've got some perennials planted but also enjoy the annuals. The year Grandmother died, someone sent a snow bush plant and that's planted at the side of the house. It brings joy as it grows and always reminds me of Grandma.

There's nothing like cheery zinnia's standing tall and strong and cosmos are so wispy and fragile looking, it's hard to believe they are actually quite tough. Funny, isn't it...cosmos for such a tender, wispy plant and cosmos meaning "the universe". Maybe because a bed of cosmos looks "cast"...?

So much of our everyday language has agricultural roots. The evening news "broadcast"...to broadly cast seeds for planting. What others come to your mind?

What a "happy" time spring is...anyone with a clay pot and a window can add another layer of joy to their lives. There are herbs and flowers galore that can be fitted nicely into a flower pot and placed in a windowbox. Those of us with a patch of land can buy seeds (if we've not saved them from last year) and "broadcast" our joy. Planting seeds is like chopping wood...one receives the benefits many times over. It's also a great depression damper...when we study on those bits and pieces of joy God brings into our lives, we've less room for our troubles and woe to grow.

Grow where you're planted and Happy Spring, one and all.

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