As a general rule I keep way too many irons in the fire at any given time. It’s also probably true that I am not great at keeping my cool when all of the projects demand my attention simultaneously. A perfect example of this came up last weekend as I was trying to harvest the rest of my seed crops, dry and powder paprika peppers, paint the trim on the farmhouse, and pack to move to Corvallis for graduate school.
The result was not pretty. During one slow moment, I tearfully stood in the driveway of the farm and questioned WHY I was trying to do all of these things. My eyes drifted down towards the planted beds along the fence and, with a virtual ray of sunlight highlighting them, I saw the answers to my question: the bulbs were sprouting.
A little background on the significance of this is probably important. I had planted these bulbs in the midst of a similarly frantic time in the middle of spring. As I was rushing about trying to get all of the right plants sown and planted for both field and garden projects, I saw an abundant patch of grape hyacinth just beginning to drop their flowers. Without delay I dropped what I was doing, plucked them up, and divided the bulbs. With about twenty bulbs in hand, I replanted them around the garden beds in hopes of a future sea of purple flowers. I then spent the next three weeks stressing over the watering of all of my young plants, and forgot about the grape hyacinth completely except for an occasional glance that reminded me that they were drying out too fast and I was dropping the ball. By the time summer was in full swing I had written the bulb transplant off as a failure and forgot them, until this past weekend that is.
When I saw the little green leaves poking up ALL OVER THE GARDEN, my total failure was transformed into a total success. More importantly, it reminded me why I’m always loading more things onto my plate. Although it feels like I can’t manage it all or that I’ve ruined the projects wholly, time seems to soften the edges or change my paradigm completely. So while I didn’t totally nail the consistency on my paprika powder, I’m sure it will still brighten my eggs on the gray days of February and that’s enough reason to keep pushing forward.
This week I mentioned bulb plants. Check back in two weeks to read more about how these plants pull off growing through the winter to grace gardens with the earliest spring flowers.
Have you had moments where the plants remind you of who you are? What were they?
As always feel free to send me your thoughts on this post and any other plant-y topics!