GARDENING AS A TOOL FOR LIFE

You know there is that song that goes..."I don't like Mondays..." well I do like Mondays, especially today. Yoga was particularly difficult but I love a challenge, especially once it's over! Then I went around to Barb's for a chat about what she is going to do with her new garden area when the the building is all finished. Barb knows how hungry I get after yoga so she had a wonderful soup all ready for me when I arrived and a nice roll with lashings of butter. If you want to get the best out of me, feed me first! I have only known Barb little more than a year but we have a connection that means a lot to both of us! She puts up with me going on about things, on the one hand, but holds me dear in the other! She is a special kind of person.

Anyway, I wish I had taken my camera because somehow Barb's vegetable garden is so much better than anyone could imagine. It is so limited in space but everything flourishes and there is so much variety; I think I will move in to the shed just to be near it. There are special vibes, I am sure, that Barb grows secretly somewhere and splashes around her garden when she hears me arrive because it feels like a very special place, to me. Much more special than my place or any other vegetable garden I know, except maybe Glenys'. It is not anything really to do with how it looks or what is growing there or the person - it is the feel I get when I am in it.

On my way home I had to call in to the Pool Shop to get some dreaded chemicals to stop my pool being green after all the rain. Me? Chemicals? Well, these are the only chemicals I buy and I hate them. Any way, I get on well with the bloke who owns the shop - we usually joke a lot together. Today he told me some things that made me feel he really needs something meaningful in his life. He was very unhappy and not his usual cheery persona at all. I don't know why but men often tell me about their feelings, I think it is because I have time and I bother to ask them about themselves; and there we were, alone in his shop, talking about his life and how rotten he feels since he separated from his wife.He would like a pet but can't have one in his unit. In the course of the conversation he said he loves cooking and so I tentatively suggested maybe he might like to grow some herbs (as a way to have something to look after). He likes salads and Asian food and he has a north-facing balcony - perfect I said and suggested how to get started with just a little bit of this and that; I didn't want to scare him with overload!

After I had paid for the chemicals, got the advice on what to do with them and so on and was ready to go, he said "...yes, herbs and some lettuce...I think I will start with lettuce." He was forming a plan and getting quite skippity-doo about the idea. I hope he makes a start. And I can always call in again soon for something I don't really need, to see if he is OK. I don't even know his name.

Sometimes people just need a few minutes of a stranger's time to sort out their thoughts and so often these days people don't want to get involved with other people's lives. This is why everyone should have access to a community garden plot and a space to connect with strangers. Just by listening, sharing stories and offering and receiving help in the most natural and non-binding of ways, with our hands in the soil, we could all benefit without even trying.

ps Why hasn't anyone commented on the post I made with the 4 YouTube videos?? Please, watch the first video, if nothing else, and read what I wrote underneath the boxes. This is my main passion here, on earth. Am I the only one who feels this way?? 2010 International year Of Biodiversity