I've been missing the 'zen of gardening' for many years. Every weekend, I help a friend at his Harley Davidson dealership in the Catskills...basically, I'm the social liason. This past weekend, I decided to do something social for the dealership - I planted an herb garden in back of an old shed they own just across the road. The area is rocky and surrounded by overgrown bushes and brush, but, in my eyes (as a seasoned gardener from way back in the day), this spot has lots of sun, lots of drainage and is unmolested by human traffic. This was the perfect spot for the official dealership community herb garden!
My cousin donated several plants from her own garden up in Columbia County for this project. Chocolate mint, peppermint, spearmint, pergamon and another lovely ______cherry plant (oops, I forgot!) were in the lineup. Next stop was Home Depot for a pair of cotton gardening gloves, a short handled shovel (size matters when you're a small person digging) and a great spade. It took about 2 hours to dig out a rectangular space, pull indigenous roots, weed and discard a boatload of rocks, but viola! The herbs were planted and one of the owners of the dealership donated metal brackets to create a border. The next day, it was off to the local farmers' market where the Cornell Agricultural School liason took an interest in what I was doing and pointed me in the direction to where I could purchase basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley. At the end of the day, O'Toole's Harley Davidson of Wurtsboro, NY had its very own herbal garden. Everyone at the store was curious and excited to see me going back and forth with a shovel and spade (aside from the 'burying the dead body jokes') and buckets of water and even more excited to know that this garden is for everyone to share. In a few weeks, we will all be able to cut our own mint, parsley and other herbs for various uses.
Here's Your Healthy Tip of the Day: Plant something positive today. Whether it's a pot of herbs for your office to share, or a positive idea that can impact others or just a positive attitude for the day....like a garden, the good vibes will spread and like a little community garden, you'll put a smile on other people's faces. At the end of the day, you'll feel really good! I got to dig in the soil, create a garden and got some great exercise. I've got big plans for an expanded garden for next year, but for the meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy some fresh mint tea today!
Monday, July 19, 2010
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