I thought I might create a gardening topic for those of us who have one or two green thumbs, or even a slightly verdant pinky. I have enjoyed chatting with survivors like @Pds and @Pontwander about this pleasurable past-time, so wanted to open it up for other enthusiasts to join in on the conversation if desired. Apparently, one of the reasons gardening is so cathartic, scientifically, is because through small scratches and scrapes on the gardener’s hands, microbes from the soil enter and cause euphoric feelings much like endorphins released through eating chocolate. I am not sure about the exact science of it, but it is interesting. I hope people get the chance to post some pics on this thread of their gardening endeavours.
Getting back out into the garden has been an up-and-down process for me. Over the summer of last year, I thought I was steady enough to tackle it head on. I was wrong and, with tail between my legs, I sequestered back indoors for most of the year. The curse I have suffered as a result of my stroke is not being able to deal with lots of visual noise and, of course, the garden is the most vibrant and busy of visual environments. I felt at first, this was a little bit unfair and cruel of the universe but, conversel,y it has given me time to think about it more deeply. I have had a good year to contemplate my garden from a window, and have now a more universal sense of it and I than I had previously.
I was out in the orchard today, and I was delighted that the small number of cowberries I had planted, despite being overgrown with bramble and creeping buttercup, have survived. I managed to weed around them today, and take an armful of brambles to the pigs so they have some winter greens to munch on.
Below is a picture of the Holstein I am currently winter pruning.