Today's guest post gave me a sort of eerie feeling I might have written it myself! But no, it's just that author Angela Mobley of Bumpkin in the Burbs seems to share a lot of my own ideas about gardening and those who engage in it. Like her, I've been a bit slow with my gardening this year. Too many distractions, too much living, too much writing... Nevertheless, you could say it's a huge sense of fulfillment for anyone bitten by the garden bug. |
It's the thought...
I meant to type that--it’s not an autocorrect fail! But wouldn’t roses, or any other flower be better in a bouquet than radishes, you might ask? Don’t get me wrong, I do love flowers, but I rarely put them into bouquets as I can enjoy them longer when they’re still growing. The ones I do pick are mostly those I’m going to eat. Again, auto-correct has not intervened - violets, redbud flowers, Rose of Sharon flowers, squash blossoms, okra blossoms, daylilies, etc. are all edible. My husband is a city boy and just leaves me alone, hoping I don’t sneak too much “weird” stuff into his food... |
Most of us dabble in planting stuff, both flowers and vegetables. Anyone who’s dabbled in gardening will find that sometimes you might have a not-so-successful attempt, and, at other times, your efforts may just be too successful. For instance, even if you think you are planting a little extra - just in case - don’t ever do that with squash or zucchini, or okra plants. They almost never fail! Unless you just go in and stomp on them for a few hours or shield them from any rain or water whatsoever or aim a blowtorch at them. Maybe they won’t grow then, but I doubt it.
That bouquet of radishes means more than an expensive arrangement from an upscale florist. The time and care that I know went into the planting and harvesting and the thoughts from my neighbors to offer them as a gift are priceless. They know me well enough to know that I’d take an offering from their garden before a trip to a jewelry store any day.
I will insert a small word of warning, however. That last statement holds true in all but one circumstance. If you find that a gardener has decided to gift you zucchini from their garden, and you’ve received your 739th zucchini, you might be right to suspect that they have an ulterior motive.
Whether they’re feeling desperate, trying to figure out how to dispose of their bumper crop or they just plain don’t like you, it signals the beginning of an alarming situation.
Although I may have caused my daughter who’s to be married next spring to possibly change her mind about letting me do her flower arrangements for her wedding, I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little piece about my bouquet of radishes...