In the gardening world spring is a time to breath new life into forgotten soil.
The simple act of dropping a tiny seed into rejuvenated soil, has been a farmers go to method for centuries.
The magic which happens over the next 7+ days to create a plant is mind blowing.
Then before you know it, it’s time to thin out the seeds or pick the best seedlings to pot on or just choice the best plants to plant out.
Like farmers of old, this act is undertaken to give the stronger plants the best chance.
But, for me this part was simple hard to get my head around.
Why would you discard something that you’ve cared for so much?
In my early days of being introduced to this method by my late father, he showed great joy in showing me this gardening trick.
He used to say ‘look for the strong’ and explained that a good plant has a thick steam, not to leggy, nice formed leaves with a rich colour.
Quite confusing when all the plant formations are different, but the check list remains the same.
But, in the early days, Dad would often work next to me and look over from his work station and survey my choices.
If he didn’t agree, which was quite often, he would make a point of holding up a plant and looking at it with pride and saying ‘isn’t this a fine specimen?’.
I would nervously smile, nod and take note, then when his back was turned, I would revaluate my plant choices.
Then he would show me how to separate the plants gently to limit loss and then repot if the seedling wasn’t going to be used.
Another way he nurtured and respected his garden.
I learnt that this ritual was only one step to winning in gardening, and for most, every win comes with some sort of loss every year.
Like seeds, they have a habit of being stubborn and refusing to grow at times.
Or the dreaded frost make an appearance when its not forecast to do so.
My dad was savvy to this and was a big advocated for, ‘One man’s trash can often be another man’s gold’.
And with that, I would often find my dad wandering around the allotment in the spring offering discarded seedlings to others and over time, this ended up working both ways.
In his final years, Dad or Gee Gee to Billy, showed great pride in gardening with Billy.
Growing magic beans and introducing him to eating while you work.
And showing him that gardening can be fun and rewarding if you put the work in.
A great life lesson for Billy to hold on to and use in other areas of his life.
Now Dad has passed the baton on, I have realised that there wasn’t any discarding really, just a lot of rehoming, nurturing and a lot of love to make the weak strong.
Remember you may not feel strong but you are.
Love
The Rose-Tinted Mum
The Rose Tinted mum 