How does your garden grow?

A little over 12 months ago, I moved into an apartment that also included a small outdoor area, within which was a garden.  Since then, we’ve torn up the grass, laid paving stones and gravel, dug up existing plants, interred new ones, pruned, plucked, and planted, with varying amounts of success.  It’s been a lot of fun though – gardening – and I’m not trying to romanticise it – though dirty, awkward, frustrating hard work, is actually amazingly fun and calming.  At least, I find it so.

Perhaps it would be less so if I did it everyday of the year.  But I suspect that it would still hold its enjoyment.  Growing up, a couple of my friends had farms; small ones, to be sure, but operating nonetheless.  I occasionally helped on them.  I did, and still do find a real satisfaction in the ‘working with your hands’ kind of work, that doesn’t involve typing at a computer or selling goods to others.

But, instead of my overly romantic notions about work and dirt, perhaps check out Sallygardens – it’s a blog from someone who is actually attempting to live from what they can grow, farming and trading their goods, and teaching others how to do it as well.  A fascinating experiment…  Try this post for a brief summary of it all.

Filed under: experiences, links, personal, work , Gardening, sustainable living, what is work?