The Garden Walk [Keeping The Weeds at Bay]
The Garden Walk is a practical discussion on an effective way of keeping the weeds down. with a daily walk through the garden.
I have been gone for a while and now I am back, but who’s really paying attention anyway? We are all so busy these days. Though the point is I am back on and I am jam-packed with ideas to share, recipes to write, and posts to upload. I know it will all get done while admittedly a bit late on the schedule. Nevertheless, it is good to be back with you.
To catch you up a little my daughter is in her very first play this week and so it’s been me playing chauffeur, costume designer, and bake sale mom in addition to my other jobs. Yeesh!
Life does not slow down for the extra things we need or want to do, does it? What an extraordinary season to be in. Mothering children and caring for a home. So much goes into these roles every single day and somehow we are equipped at handling it all. It is God’s clever way how He created us, women. The ability to bare it all and hopefully still manage to do so with a bit of grace.
Garden Season
The garden season offers a place to unwind for me. Though much more work to deal with in keeping a garden. Yet when the dinner is done, and the dishes are cleaned, I slip out back to my garden for what I only call the garden walk. A time of peace and unwinding, yes.
But also one of maintenance and purposeful work. Even if all I have is 5 minutes. Most days lately, it has only been those five minutes. Normally I have a bit more time to spend out here. And in the dead of summer, I find if I don’t take the garden walk. My garden is well, not so peaceful. Even if it is only those five minutes mind you.
Here’s the thing I have come to realize. As a gardener, you pull weeds EVERY. DAY. Not once a week all day on your Saturday or once a month for an entire weekend.
Regular Garden Maintenance
Turns out, I had it all wrong.
I avoided weeding. Cause I hated weeding to be quite frank. If you have been here for any length of time, you might even be sick of me harping on this necessary garden chore. The complete contradiction of keeping a garden and avoiding the labor that goes into its maintenance.
It’s hardly practical, isn’t it? It’s not practical at all. We all deal with the weeds, don’t we? I have found them in my pots for goodness’ sake.
BUT I will tell you that surrendering to them and the work of the garden adds a serene quality to the work itself. What good is it when we resist so much that the resisting carries a mental punishment before we even lift a finger? It’s a little on the side of madness when we realize that we torture ourselves just thinking how much we don’t want to do something that is necessary.
Purposefully, making the time to do the garden walk every evening has been the basis for my change of heart. I have seen the error in my ways so much so that I find value in sharing it here with you.
Daily Vs. Weekly Weeding
Don’t underestimate the value of 5 minutes.
It’s all I have some days at the moment but my new routine is to walk the gardens with my weed bucket, observing the plants and plucking weeds as I go. I make sure that my weed bucket is placed empty near the back door so that I can grab it with ease. A few large handfuls aren’t much but when you do this every day for your 5-minute garden walk about. It actually does add up to a tidier garden.
In fact I look around after that five minutes and my garden has never looked so well kept.
Very recently, I received some sound advice from a wonderful gardener who had been gardening for over thirty years. She said “ don’t exhaust yourself on a project” instead the trick is to work just a bit each day you are out there.
Rest and come back, then do more. She went on to say that we get more done this way and it’s more of an enjoyable experience instead of a labor-intensive one. I have spent many back-breaking days huddled over plants, ripping out weeds by hand until I could barely move then I could count. Surely, this is what has led me to my irrational complaints about such a labor-intensive chore.
Not to mention the next morning when I am completely rendered useless to anything that needs doing in my home. What a terrible cycle for any of us to be a part of. Rather these simple words of wisdom offered up completely transformed my thinking.
Why hadn’t this ever occurred to me? We give such attention to the giant leaps that seem much more rewarding. When the slow steady-paced work with consistent action is much more sustainable.
So here, as simple as it seems, I share the garden walk wisdom in hopes that it spares you an afternoon of back-breaking work. And if nothing else, makes for a great reminder that a slow steady pace in the garden can work wonders.
Enjoy your time in the garden!
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