The Cycle of Life

A month's time has gone by since we last posted. A long and happy life has ended and many new ones have begun. Most of you know my Grandmother Alice Goins merged with the infinite on April 3, 2009. What a perspective changing event that has been. As my Mom, my Dad, my sister, and my Mom’s sisters gathered around during Grandma’s final moments, I began an examination of that very moment and how we got there.

I believe the experiences of life and life itself are accumulated and processed for the sole purpose of teaching us that we only get one chance to share this time with those around us. It is our responsibility to take each of those precious moments and use it to help shape a better life for all of those that we come in contact with. We should feel free to share our stories and feelings and have the faith that one day a stranger may be spared the agony of a setback because we cared enough to give help when help was needed.

My Grandma shared her life’s experiences every chance she got. She made it her mission to share her experiences with everyone. She sang when she was happy and wanted others to sing with her. When she was concerned she would let you know. Sometimes, that concern was caused by an extraordinary paranoia brought on by watching too much Lifetime Television, but she believed that she was sharing with you the potential pitfalls and snares that could threaten your well being both spiritually and physically. After having considered what it all meant, I decided to begin focusing on the new life that has come to us this spring.

I’m talking about a new garden. Each spring the Sun returns to a position in the sky that allows for a flood of life giving light on our back patio. That's where we have the most space for a container bound garden. I know that it's time to start planting when the sunlight can reach all the way across the concrete slab and touch the bottom of the backdoor.

This year, Heather and I have cluttered our back patio with this summer’s potential harvest. Honestly, I like to plant seeds, watch green leaves push away the ground and grow into strong, healthy green plants. Really, that’s what I love most. But there’s this added bonus of having fruits, vegetables, and herbs come from those plants that you just can't beat. Cooking and eating items that you have produced with a little help from Mother Nature is a great and satisfying reward. If all goes well this spring, we will have the additional pleasure of growing too much. We will be forced to give some away. I may have to learn how to can tomatoes this year.

We are excited about how green our patio is. Every time we have visitors I have to give a tour of our container garden. I tell them, “Here are the chives. And over here are the tomatoes and basil, just started though. It will be at least another month before we start consuming any of it.”

In the mean time, Keller’s Flea Market off Highway 17 North has good produce vendors. Heather loves to patronize one in particular because she loves to watch the little boy scramble around in their van for extra produce. His mother yells at him, in Spanish, “get the good stuff. This lady is valuable customer.” At least we think those are the words based on the mother’s flailing arms and snappy tones. The tomatoes are always ripe and juicy, the lemons are cheap and zesty, and the cucumbers are not waxed like the ones you find in the grocery store. (Heather can't stand a waxed cucumber. It makes her nuts.) The Flea Market cucumbers are almost as crisp and fresh as the ones my Grandma Alice use to grow.

So now, let me show you around our garden...

The Dill is off to a nice start.

As well as the Fresno Peppers.


The basil and cucumber plants have quite a ways to go before they start putting off any useful goods.


If you are wondering...I place a napkin or paper towel on top of the dirt then I sprinkle the basil seeds on top of the paper towel. This helps to keep in the moisture. Basil likes moisture.



Chives. These are last years sow. They are suppose to be perennials. They lasted through the winter and they still look pretty good. The other little plant in the pot is Mint. A lady at the market last year gave it to me. I didn't really have a use for it since we don't drink Mint Juleps so I stuck them in the dirt. They took root, died off for the winter and then came back this spring. They produce a fragrant flower.

Garlic. We typically get our garlic from the grocery store. Recently, I have noticed that the grocery store does not sell garlic that is free of sprouts. So I stuck four cloves that had sprouts already into the ground. We're curious to say the least.

Another plant that I am experimenting with this year is the tomato. I have grown these from seeds that I scraped out of tomatoes that we bought from the grocery store. They seem to be doing fine so far. I have read that growing a prolific tomato plant from seed is the toughest common garden plant to grow. The professionals do it, why can't I.

Besides, I will have many opportunities to get it right this year.

The Thyme is doing so well that it had to be pruned back, no wait, divided and repotted into two different pots. How long will its other half survive? You'll have to ask my Dad. Maybe Schrodinger's Cat can help.

Lastly, we have had success so far with the Dogwood sapling that my Dad gave us last year as well as the Gardenia. They have both been repotted and have a ton of new growth. I can report that the Gardenia has a lot of new green shoots and the Dogwood has had such a good start this spring that it is beginning it's second set of leaves already.













And to add to our tree collection...Lemon Tree.Terrible picture, I know. When the seedling gets a little larger I will give an update. This is the result of 4 weeks of germination and 1 week of vegetative growth. I sowed the seed 5 weeks ago and kept it wet. I had all but given up on it in the third week because I had no idea how long it would take. I brushed away the dirt to find that the lemon seed had split and green was starting to show. I quickly covered it up and started it on an artificial light cycle. At the end of the 4th week it started to push the ground out of its way. It has now been in a green house environment that I created from a plastic tub with lid for 1 week. I have a lot of reading to do about growing lemon trees. Meanwhile, Peter Paul and Mary will be my inspiration. Wish us luck.