April 24, 2010

• A New Project

  Johnny recently pointed out that since he's known me, I've always had some major project going on. At first I started to protest because I always struggle whenever anyone asks me what my "hobbies" are. I don't really collect anything (other than clothes!), I don't scrapbook, I'm not into taking artsy photographs (although I do enjoy documenting my life with plenty of snapshots). I do like to read, but who doesn't? Besides, that hardly counts as a "project." But, Johnny countered that I get bored without something to fill up my spare time, and said my obsession with training Atari, foray into cooking gourmet meals, participation in two half-marathons, and total immersion in all things baby- and parenting-related are all huge projects. I thought about it, and you know, he's right. Every once in a while, I decide to pick up a new skill or activity, throw myself into it, learn the ins and outs, and for the most part, I then keep it as part of my life (certainly, cooking, Atari and the kids are a permanent fixtures. Running is a semi-regular part of my routine; I don't get to run as much as I'd like to). Once I get the hang of it, I guess I start looking for a new challenge.

  Anyway, the reason this topic came up is because I've been talking to Johnny more and more about gardening -- specifically, growing our own vegetable garden -- and earlier this week, Johnny goes, "I see that 'This is a project' twinkle in your eye!" My first reaction was to scoff, but then I recognized the signs of a Beverly project: long periods of time Googling gardening-related topics, babbling to Johnny about building me a raised bed, scoping out the cute gardening clogs and rolling tool-storage bins at Target (they even come with cupholders and a kneeling pad on top!), wondering aloud if it would be reasonable to ask for an Environcycle tumbling composter for a 30th birthday present, considering creating an account on a gardening message board. Even I had to admit that the diagnosis was clear: I am forging full-steam ahead into my new project.

  I'm a little surprised by this new project, since I've never been an outdoorsy person, and a few months back, the subject of gardening would bore me to tears. But, a few weeks ago, I noticed that a hydrangea we planted last summer -- that I thought had died over the winter -- had come back to life. I love, love, love hydrangea. I'm pretty indifferent toward most yard plants, but oh, hydrangea, how I love thee. So I've been giving the hydrangea some TLC, hoping to nurse it back to life. Then I noticed a few other plants in our yard that need some love. It's like they were challenging me to make them flourish, and I almost never turn down a good challenge. Then, some of the moms in my playgroup were talking about their vegetable gardens. I love the idea of growing some of our own vegetables, but I haven't wanted to do anything because eventually Johnny and I want to get our backyard professionally landscaped (it's got a good layout, but the previous owners really let it go to hell). I got to talking to one of the moms, who has the Square Foot Gardening book and followed the straightforward instructions in it to build a self-contained 4x4 vegetable garden bed in her backyard. The book even told her how many of each type of vegetable (depending on size) to plant in each square foot of the bed. It occurred to me that this is something I could do without taking up one of the permanent beds (that might get uprooted in a re-landscaping project). So, anyway, I'm going to order the book, read it, do a little (OK, a lot of) supplemental research online, and next spring, I can build my own veggie garden. In the meantime, there are lots of little projects for me to tackle in our yard.

  Another bonus: If this gardening thing sticks, I have an excuse to get a cute wide-brimmed hat! (Shopping ... it is never far from my mind.)

  • 12:38 am
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