But.. it’s ugly
I think we’ve all seen Anne of Green Gables by now. Or The Secret Garden. These movies about extravagant and beautiful places to live and wander around in while cloaked in air that smells of peaches and vineyards. You can hear the chickens clucking and cows mooing and you get to live in a floral skirt and make homemade tea and soaps.
Paradise, right?
Except it isn’t. We’ve moved to an amazing piece of land and every morning I drink my coffee and am so dang excited to be here, but I also am impatient. I want to have the amazing fairy garden of my dreams!
I want to save the bees and have butterflies dancing on my fingertips while I sit in my prairie dress and dig in the soft dirt! I dream of being able to recommend certain types of flowers to ‘newbie gardeners’ while I secretly scoff because I know that my green thumb is the most superior thumb in all the land! Muahaha!
On a more grounded note my dream is to have the she-shed designated as my storage/shipping station/office where I can pack orders and print shipping labels and keep my gardening and photography supplies. Did I mention that the house comes with a she-shed? It is the CUTEST little building that has electricity and access to our Wi-Fi. It isn’t heated, but we can easily move in a space heater no problem.
The main issue? I’ll show you.
The lovely garden.
The lovely other garden.
It looks so ugly!!!
The side and back of the she-shed are coated in thick thorns that may have at one time been amazing blackberry bushes, but are now so mixed up with other types of brambles and dead tree limbs that there is no way to grow anything. There is old trash and an old play fort in the main flower garden simply decomposing with time and rain. A bucket full of odds and ends sits at the edge of the overgrown flower bed. Just looking at it feels impossible.
And yet… I can see it. I can smell it too - the spring air filled with a mini field of wildflowers suitable for drying and welcoming my pollinator pals.
…sigh..
The truth is, I’m going to have to do it myself. As I write this, my hands are covered in welts and my legs are scraped to ribbons from all of the thorns I’ve been encountering.
I’m going to have to learn about it all myself. I’ve already learned what a lopper is - and I’ve learned about composting and how I need to start saving my coffee grounds. I’ve learned that it is much easier to go foot by foot to get rid of the thorns than to try and burrow down to the root. I’ve also learned that while worship music is peaceful, there is nothing quite like listening to My Chemical Romance while yanking thorns out of my hair.
I feel beaten up, but also optimistic. I’ve cleared out almost half of the left-side garden, and I think I can at least have some room for lavender plants in the main flower garden outside the she-shed French doors. I’ve also purchased some seeds from Etsy. I have picked a variety, but I am focusing on wildflowers that are native to my region, and wildflower mixes that do well in the shade.
When I get ready to plant/start growing I’ll post exactly which Etsy shops I purchased from, and we will be able to watch them grow and bloom together!
While this post may not have the perfect ‘after’ shot like most blogs do.. I also think it is extremely vital to share the process. Today I feel antsy for the next warm day that is free. I am in a very ‘research guru’ mode. I may not have the garden of the my dreams in the next 6 months, but I know that it’ll happen.
I just have to dig in my heels and make it happen myself.
Thorns and all.
XOXO,
Windham
