Let's Back Up a Minute....

I’ve been in my home since March 2009.  Growing Season #1 was filled with disappointment as I faced my reality of just how little sun I had to work with.  Determined and wanting to prove the Laws of Gardening wrong, I invested my time attempting to grow a vegetable garden… even built a raised bed for it after suffering a second reality blow which revealed very stony soil.  Suffice it to say, my allotted sun exposure proved to be far insufficient to grow vegetables, regardless of the raised bed filled with healthy and nutrient rich soil.  So I switched gears for Growing Season #2 by potting all my herbs (for cooking) and keeping them up on my deck which does get a lot of sun, while I cultivated flower beds in my yard for perennial flowers of part-sun and part-shade.  I tried to remain optimistic despite feeling defeated by the forces all working against me, but my own persistent and rebellious nature fought back, spurring me to buy and place several full-sun perennials where they were never meant to be.  Some did OK, but I’m convinced that if plants could have their own way, they would have taken to themselves with a weed-wacker just to put themselves out of their misery. 

I have choices… there are always choices.  I could spend a buttload of money and have some wooded area cleared out to give way for more sun, but then I’d lose all the joys and comforts of the woodland that I love so much.  My house is nestled in a warm lush arc of woodlands… it provides us with privacy, wildlife, quiet and abundant beauty.  So it’s done -- I yield to accepting the inevitable:  I am not blessed with full sun for gardening and the woodland (all of it) stays!  I'll work with what I've got. 

After a brutal winter in Connecticut, Growing Season #3 is now ON.  I spent the entire long winter with an open mind while perusing gardening and nursery catalogs, both print and online.  I found things of interest, and then did research.  I charted out beds, listing spring clean-up tasks, earmarked some small encroaching saplings to meet their maker by way of ax, and I waited for spring to make an appearance.  Now that fresh green has usurped the frosty white, let’s get dirty!