The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Greenhorn Gardener

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    Ruth Carter

    The beginning of my patio vegetable garden
    The beginning of my patio vegetable garden

    I started a little patio vegetable garden in flower pots about a week ago. I thought it would be fun to try to grow some of my own food.

    My expectations for this project are very low. Remember, I’m the person who killed a cactus.

    I’m having so much fun with this science project. Every morning when I wake up and every afternoon when I get home from work, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning. One of the first things I do is open the blinds to the patio to see if I have new growth on my plants. I’ll stand there for minutes observing the taller talks and emerging leaves. NEAT STUFF!

    A few days ago, I had just woken up and in my pre-coffee stupor, I was so excited to get out to my mini garden that I walked straight into the screen door instead of opening it first. That’s how much I love this garden.

    I have 6 flower pots in my patio garden. So far I’ve planted cucumbers, beans, and broccoli. The peas and parsley will be planted in a few weeks. The seed packets said there should be sprouts within 7-14 days. I had sprouts within 3 days on the cucumbers. I was filled with glee to see this project off to a good start.

    Every day I see new growth. The beans and cucumbers are doing well. The broccoli . . . eh, we’ll see what happens. I was warned growing broccoli from seeds is challenging.

    One of the things I’m enjoying most about this garden is the lack of expectations and wonder that goes along with it. Besides providing water, quality soil, and placing the pots in sunlight, there’s nothing I can do to impact the results. Either they’ll grow or not – and since all of this is new for me, it’s exciting to see the progress. And since they’re such tiny plants, there’s a noticeable difference every few hours.

    Yup – I’m a big dork who loves her garden.

  • Day 87/90 – Processing Grief and Anger

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    Ruth Carter

    Day 87 of the 90 Days of Awesome was not awesome. My day started out with sadness and anger as I woke to the story of two news reporters being killed on live TV. Their deaths were so sad and senseless. My heart goes out of their loved ones who will never get those images out of their heads. These senseless acts of violence make me so angry I wanted to go out in the alley behind my office and scream, but I didn’t want to scare my officemates.

    Six flower pots filled with possibilities - soon to be filled with dirt.
    Six flower pots filled with possibilities – soon to be filled with dirt.

    It’s been a bit of a rough week for me physically – poor sleep, sweating again, chest pain. Sadness + anxiety perhaps? (When in doubt, Occam’s Razor.) I was glad to finish my client work by early afternoon. I told my receptionist, “I’m going on a mission” and left for the day.

    What I called a mission was really a trip to the nursery to get pots for my patio garden. I picked up 6 pots and saucers and some seeds. I placed the pots and watched how the sun hits the patio over the course of the afternoon – adjusting their locations for maximum sunlight. I hope to get quality potting soil this weekend so I can start the growing process.

    Working on this simple project seemed to calm me down, give me something tangible to do, and engaged the curiosity center of my brain. Perhaps this gardening project will continue to be good for me.

    In case you missed it: Day 86 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Celebrating a friend’s sobriety anniversary.