Navel Gazing

Ok I’ve put it off far too long.  I need clarity.  I need resolutions.  This January is drifting off from its New Year’s mooring and 2016 has set sail.  I appear to be dithering about on the gangway wondering what I should do to enhance my trip.  I know I am going somewhere this year, but how am I going to do it with style, flare and pizzazz?  I don’t want to just plod along doing my usual dog-paddle.  I want fabulous things to happen in my garden this year.

You have to excuse the boat metaphors, but Hubby the Un-Gardener now has a lovely boat in the water after a year of working on it.  This will impact my gardening time as we will head out into the big blue yonder from time to time.  This means time in the garden needs to be spent wisely.  I did have the boat builder set up a hanging garden system for me off the back of the boat, so I can still garden at sea.

Just as obvious as the nose on my face, my first resolution is staring back at me from the first few lines above.  SARAH THE GARDENER – STOP PROCRASTINATING!  I know I’m shouting, but sometimes you need to shout at yourself.  I have to be the worst procrastinator ever!  I don’t know why I do it.  The garden is one of my great loves, I should want to indulge in it at every opportunity.  But sometimes the wind is a bit blowy or it might be too cold or too hot and I’d feel all icky.  Once I’m out there I love it. Well I just need to suck it up and get stuck in.

To make a good resolution – it needs to be measurable so in order capture the intangible I shall do something in the garden every day.  Having said that – it is a bit of a given.  It needs me every day.  What the heck – if it is too hard or complicated I won’t do anyway.  So driven by the need for order I shall pop it on my daily to do list – near the top:  “do something in the garden today.”   It’ll happen, I’m sure.

The next thing I’d like to look into for a goal is citrus.  I kill citrus.  I’ve lost count of the number of plants whose demise is entirely my fault.  I go into the garden centre and all the citrus quake in their pots as I approach as they desperately hope I don’t pick them up and put them in my trolley.

It isn’t really my incompetence – the fault lies in the soil.  Citrus don’t like wet feet.   I suppose I can take some responsibility for the poor unfortunates who ended up in containers as I’m not that great at remembering to water containers.  But as a resolution as determined as a New Year’s one, I shall attempt to turn the tide of failure and grow citrus and grow it well.  This can be my quest for the year.   One day soon I’ll be sipping a G&T with my very own lemons – mark my words!

Is two enough?  I have learnt lessons from the past and know this will be more than I can handle on top of everything else.  Last year I started off with a whizz and a bang and tried to be all sustainable, dragging my family through various crazy environmentally friendly activities and not forgetting the competition to eat from within 200km of the house, which we didn’t win.  We mostly remembered to say no to plastic bags at the store, we recycled with increased vigilance and we tried not to buy more things we actually needed.  However, we never made it to the end of the year as I had intended – popping some solar panels on the roof would have been nice.  But we had a jolly good attempt. So I wouldn’t say last year we failed, we just drifted slightly off course in the chaos of life.

Come again soon – I’m going to be in the garden every day, something exciting is bound to happen.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)