How to Improve Your Garden in One Day
I'm thinking of starting a workshop for gardeners who are feeling less than confident about their growing skills, and here is a sneak peak at some of the steps toward quickly improving your garden that I am planning to cover:1) Drive to Minister Hill2) Use supplied hedge clippers to chop latest canes from the raspberry bush from hell that has volunteered to guard the garden gate, allowing only bears and chipmunks to pass unscathed.3) Stay on the garden paths to avoid being attacked by tomato plants that refuse to cooperate with this year's homage to vertical gardening. Take note of heavy reliance on completely recycled and fruitless efforts, including stakes and leaves to tie things together 'naturally'.4) This is a hands-on workshop, and participants will be asked to choose a sixpack of dried-up, neglected veggie starts to plant at the end of the hour, if there's time.5) If you notice a weed that seems like it would look better in the rusting wheelbarrow, by all means, pull it. Do not fight the urge to pull just one more - there are enough for every participant.6) The workshop garden is a work in progress which means all participants will have the chance to spend $25 on more veggie starts to neglect while they plan their next move.7) Dig up established perennial vegetables and place in bucket for replanting after new garden design is confirmed.8) At the forty-five minute mark there will be a thirty minute TV break.9) Depending on the month, take another walk out to the garden to pick the sole cherry tomato or head of lettuce as a souvenir to take home.10) Drive Home and take a fresh look at your own garden and note how much more organized it suddenly seems. If currently in therapy for any sort of depression or feelings of inadequacy, send money you would have spent on this week's session to your Picking My Battles Gardening instructor or to her power of attorney, should her family succeed in having her committed to the nearest psychiatric center for the treatment of scatterbrained gardeners.
