Gardening
Spotlight on
Is spring here? I believe the
answer is in the weather. Yes, for
the last couple of weeks anyway,
it is a sure bet that spring is here
to stay.
by David Lane
Advanced Indiana
Master Naturalist
Nature
let everyone garden.
As a young boy growing up we had
a family garden and we all took turns
We still might get a few mornings
doing our part to keep-up with the
of cool air but the chance of getting
gardening chore. One of the lessons I
any frost is, in my opinion, history.
learned was to grow food and to watch
Spring is time for a garden. That
it mature into food but you had to work
means it’s time to head outside and en- at it literally. Harvesting the food was
joy the warm feel of sunshine on your
the fun part I thought. The one thing
back and the scent of fresh tilled soil. I that touched me was to see the look
just tilled our garden a few weeks ago
on our elderly neighbor’s faces when
and soon thereafter the birds became
we brought them part of the food that
my friend, waiting for me to get a diswe grew. That was priceless, and it
tance away so they could have easy ac- made you feel important that you had
cess to a meal of worms. Gardening is
a part in it. Food from the “heart” you
the most popular recreational pastime might say. When they saw the tomain the United States and Canada, but
toes they lit up. I gave it to them and
unless you are young and fit, it’s easy
they thanked me with blessings. I was
to overdo it. Sore muscles and aching
moved to tears. Gardening was my
backs offer ample proof that planting,
FFA project in High School and I truly
weeding, watering, and picking become loved it. I still enjoy gardening to this
more difficult as you age. While you
day. The woods that we have on our
cannot turn back time, incorporatproperty and the abundance of wilding adaptive, or enabling, gardening
life, necessitates us having a fence up
concepts into your garden design make around our garden. You cannot blame
it possible to garden for life.
the animals, because common sense
Adaptive gardening has its roots in tells you that they are just looking for
the garden therapy. It combines design food as their natural instinct.
elements and the use of special tools to
Gardening and growing your own
food has its many rewards. It’s food
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