Report From An Opinionated Gardener – January 11
It’s not a blessing, in my opinion. Maybe I’m the only one who works better with a deadline, but I doubt it.
Would you gardeners be quick to order seeds if you knew that you had 365 days a year to start them? Knowing that many plants are best started in the spring, when you have an entire summer for them to gain strength and size, aren’t you more geared-up for germinating those seeds in March or April?
Last fall, once I admitted that it was time for a hip replacement, my doc told me that I wouldn’t be able to drive for four weeks. OK, I rationalized, I can use that time to write. Of course what the doctor didn’t mention was that the first two thirds of that time would be mostly filled with exercises and leg elevations so driving would be sort of impossible anyway. The final third seemed like lots of time, huge days that couldn’t be filled with errands or other work.
Now maybe I just work better when I know that I have to buckle down and write because the article/book is due on this particular day. Because I see that having endless time has made me less industrious, not more productive.
It’s clearly good that I live in a place where my ability to start seeds, put plants in the ground, and harvest vegetables is seasonally determined. Nature gives me deadlines, and I’m better off for it.
Soon it will be time to start seeds in my solar-heated shed. This same shed will be too hot in July, however, so my window to germinate new plants runs from February through May.
