Flowers For Beauty

 

Over the years I have designed and grown a wide range of gardens. They ranged from a one pot with tomatoes and basil on my balcony to a 1 acre commercial operation. One reoccurring question raised through all these various gardens’ projects over a 17 year period is whether to grow flowers or not.

I am not talking about edible flowers but flowers that are grown purely for ornamental or ascetic purposes either as cut flowers for the table or bouquets or dried flowers for various craft purposes.

To clarify the discussion further, I am not discussing commercial growing of cut flowers or flowers for drying, both of which could be solid business opportunities, but rather flowers grown purely for personal use and ascetic qualities.

There are gardeners and then there are gardeners; some will only grow food and scoff at those who grow, for example, gladiolas. Te glad has no edible value but it perhaps one of the most beautiful flowers that I have seen.

I have grown glads in containers on my balcony and in the backyard, just so I could have them to cut and bring inside to admire.

I remember on evening some years back I was sitting on my balcony looking up at the sky when I noticed a small bird hover near the deep red glads growing in the container. It was a hummingbird. It paused in its flight and gave me a look that said hey what you are doing here this I my space.

The hummingbird bird came back at approximately the same time every night for a week. Now that is what I call a good reason to grow flowers; to attract these winged jewels.

The group of gardeners who want to grow only food; or plant trees will argue that growing flowers for purely aesthetic purposes is a waste of time and resources (soil, water) but I simply cannot agree.

Beauty is a function and one that deserves our respect and attention. Spend, even20 minutes, in a backyard near the flower garden, feel the sun warming your face, hear the hum of the bees and watch the butterflies float from plant to plant and you will see the value that beauty brings. The dance of life is taking place before your eyes.

Besides a cutflower garden can attract the beneficial friends, (bees and other insects) to you garden that will help you do the work.

My perspective is this; if you have enough space for a garden then take a diverse approach, grow the vegetables that you want for your table but add a few herbs and a few cut flowers into the mix so that your garden will not only provide a greater bounty for your table, but so that you set out a portion for your garden helpers.

The successful gardener does not work alone. Another saying that is worth remembering here is that we do not live by bread alone; vegetables will feed your hunger but flowers will feed your heart. A thriving garden is a mixed planting garden, Herbs, flowers, trees, all have a place.

Water. Are we Running Out

 This was written awhile back, but the continued attempts to make water a commodity, raise the question why is water not considered a human right?

t is four in the morning and the call of nature pulls you from your dreams of lakes and ponds, flowing rivers of endless water, you feel the need and get up and head for the bathroom. When finished you flush and head back for bed.

Later that morning, you are pouring yourself a cup of coffee; the water came from you kitchen tap and little effort was needed to get it.

Later that day, you reach into the fridge and get the water jug or take out a bottle of water that you purchased at the grocery store when you last bought your groceries. Neither action takes much time or thought.

When it comes to our lawns and gardens, many of us have developed some water wise skills and are becoming aware of the importance of water conservation.

For some, this has carried over into our homes and how we use water to prepare our meals and dispose of our personal; waste.

But for many millions of people worldwide, the convenience of turning on the tap and having cool, drinkable water readily available does not exist.

Dirty water is a leading cause of illness and death; globally, a child dies every 15 seconds from causes related to dirty water.

Now if you and I conserve water this will not help those who do not have ready access to water in any direct sense, but if we begin to treat water as the essential resource that it is; a resource that everyone needs access to then things can begin to change.

Water is essential to life like food is; however, while we may last up to three weeks without eating, we will only live for three days without water.

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) through a proclamation by the General Assembly on December 10 with a count of 48 votes to none with only 8 abstentions.

Included in that Declaration is Article 25 this says;

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Water was not included.

Grow A Great Garden,

 How do you grow the best organic garden ever? It is easier to do this than many people think. We tend to get lost in the word organic and the need for organic products to be certified but this does not apply to food you grow for your own personal consumption. So get past the word organic and think about what makes a garden grow and flourish. In other words, how do you grow the best damn garden ever?

The following steps will take you from no garden to a bountiful garden that uses no artificial ingredients aka organic and produces gorgeous flowers, healthy herbs and delicious vegetables.

Step One: Seeds.

Use heritage or heirloom seeds, you get the vegetables you plant or quality seeds will produce quality plants. The heritage seed will breed true to the parent so there are no surprises.

Heirloom seed and heritage seed are used interchangeably. They both refer to an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown for many years but is not widely used in industrial agriculture.

Be sure to plant the seeds according to the instructions on the seed pack. If you keep a garden journal, you will be able to record how well your planting works and make adjustments as you learn.

If you want to save seeds then choose heritage as you will get what grows and no surprises.

Step Two: Soil.

The successful gardener knows that the main gardening chore is to grow healthy and vital soil. Healthy soil produces healthy plants. If you compost, then you are already producing a prime ingredient in the organic garden; one that when added to the garden bed or containers feeds the soil and provides what your plants need to thrive.

If you do not compost, I suggest getting started but until your have a supply for the garden, consider buying some organic compost from a local garden centre or plant nursery. The money is well invested.

Step Three: Sun.

This is actually the first thing you do, be sure to situate the garden bed in a location where the plants will get the amount of sunlight they need to grow and produce the herbs, flowers and vegetables you want. Most vegetables require six to eight hours of sun per day as do most herbs and many flowers. Locate the garden properly and much of your work is done.

Step Four: Mulch.

Applying mulch to the garden bed is an effective way to conserve water, reduce weeding and enhance your garden’s fertility. There is a wide array of material that will make good mulch; I have used straw, for example, to great effect.

Basic Gardening Tasks:

On a regular basis you will need to;

1- Water, if it does not rain you will need to water your garden. If possible do this in the morning. Water long so the water goes deep, you are watering the plant roots so give the water time to sink in. If you can not water in the morning do it after supper. Avoid mid-day watering as the sun will dry the bed out before the water sinks in. got a rain barrel, no, they are a great way to conserve water.

2- Inspect the garden at least three times a week. You are looking for changes. Unwanted visitors or leaves changing colours for example are warning signs that problems are beginning, early detection can save the crop.

3- You can also deadhead flowers while inspecting the bed and pull any weeds that may have set root.

Harvest each crop when it is ready and remove any flowers or vegetables that have fallen to the ground. This keeps bugs away and makes sure you get the food before it is overripe. I set aside a few plants for saving seeds, this way I ensure that the following season I have a supply of the best seeds from the plants I enjoy.

You can have the best garden ever without overworking yourself, plan carefully and when it comes to size, if it is your first garden, start small and let it grow was your time and skills do.

Lilies< A Garden Tale

 

Lilies

Lilies are scene stealers. Wherever they are planted they will grab the garden visitor’s eye. If you are seeking fragrance, form and colour then the lily is your choice.

They look great at the back of a border or standing alone in clumps. There is a large variety to choose from and the gardener can find one or many to suit their site. Lilies are not difficult to grow and the reward they give those who plant them goes far beyond the minimal labour and time invested.

The genus Lilium are herbaceous flowering plants that usually grow growing from bulbs but can it is possible to grow them from seed. Liliacae, or the lily family has There are approximately 110 species. So you can see that there really is much to choose from for your garden.

The lily makes an excellent cut flower and will brighten a hallway or side board, in a small vase alone or arranged with other flowers.

The pink stargazer is a personal favourite. A few years back, I decided to try an experiment. One of the numerous things I enjoy about gardening is the fun you can have trying different ideas. My plan was to grow a stargazer indoors in my living room. We had a window alcove that received ample light and as the room was already a plant haven, I just had to know. So I planted three.

All three reached a height of approximately four feet and all bloomed. The fragrance was magnificent, for a time, that is, after three days of 24 hour perfume, it was getting a bit much and the amount of pollen these beauties produced was truly amazing.

They had to go. We’d wake up in the middle of the night choking and one look from my wife said it all, bye, bye stargazers.

The lily has been around for millennia and dates back more than 3,000 years. It was not until the 1500s that other varieties besides the Madonna lily became known

The Chinese were among the early growers. Lily in Chinese is said to mean “forever in love”. I do like the sound of that as it makes the lily a truly romantic flower. To the Assyrians the lily was a holy flower.

The lily, in Greek poetry, stands for tenderness. The lily has been said to be the voice of the muse and there is a Greek myth that tells us how the lily was born from the milk of the goddess Hera. To Christians the lily symbolizes pure love.

If you are owned by a cat, beware, cats and lilies do not get along as the lily is toxic to our feline companions.

So toxic that a cat will suffer if even a small amount is consumed so if you have cats, no lilies.

Lilies are reputed to have medicinal properties for humans.

Growing Lilies:

Lilies are a good container plant and thus ideal for a patio or small space garden. For best results, plant single large bulbs (10-12cm/4-5in diameter) in 20-23cm (8-9in) pots, or you can plant three to four smaller bulbs (5-8cm/2-3in diameter) in 23-25cm (9-10in) pots. Be sure to allow 5cm (2in) between bulbs. You will need deep pots to grow lilies.

If you are looking to add curb appeal to yoru property two or three lilies in a stylish container near the front entrance of your house will enhance the visitor’s first impression.

Lilies are from one of three distinct classes and are divided according to color range, period of bloom, hardiness, and orientation of the flowers. The different classes can be combined in the same in the same plot but it is always a good idea to know what you have.

The three varieties are Asiatic hybrid lilies, Oriental hybrid lilies and species lilies. The species lily is the hardiest and is hardy to zone 3.

I’d like to hear your lily stories.

Grow Your Own Food-Grow What You Can.

 

Are food prices rising where you shop?

 

How do you cope? If you are not already growing at least some of your own food, then now is the time to get started.

I believe that anyone that is anyone who wants to can garden. This is the classic, if there is a will there is a way scenario and of all the activities that we can devote our time and attention to, gardening is one that allows for creativity and individuality.

Far too many people do not have backyards or have only a little space to grow anything. Size does matter but do not let that deter you, even A small space garden can be quite productive.

Your first step is to get to know the space where you garden will be; in particular, how much natural sunlight does it get none, all day or somewhere in-between? Once you know that you can start to develop a plant list selecting plants that thrive in the amount of sunlight that you have available.

Now how big is that space; room for one container or can you set up a small backyard market garden?

Already a gardener and growing some vegetables, it is time to take a look at what you are producing and ask yourself, rather than my current plant choices what could I grow that will be edible and increase my family’s food security?

How much space does your present garden occupy? Can you make it bigger? If you could enlarge do you have the time and means to take care of it, so no waste takes place?

When considering the space you have available, think up. Take a minute and look up instead of along the ground, vertical and not horizontal.

We grow beans on poles and peas why not expand that list. When you make the choice to grow vertical your small space expands, growing up means growing more.

If you have no room to grow your own food security garden, yard sharing may be your answer. Find out if there is a yard sharing program in your community and join up.

Growing together helps all parties to enhance their food security and builds good neighbours. Community gardens are another possibility, look and ask around your neighborhood, are there a community garden you can join?

Now is the time to get gardening, care for the earth and grow your own food security garden at the same time. The cost of oil will continue to rise; will you be able to buy food as it does?

Permaculture ABC

 Permaculture is an ethically based design methodology. The word permaculture was coined by its co-founders Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Permaculture is formed from two words permanent and agriculture.

A is for Ant. Ants help to protect the garden from Aphids.

B is for Bee. Both honey bees and bumblebees help the garden to grow. Bees pollinate the plants so the plants will produce fruit and vegetables.

C is for Chickens. Chicken give eggs and help to recycle food and yard waste.

D is for Ducks. Ducks eat slugs and snails that want to eat your vegetables.

E is for Ethics. Permaculture design is based upon an ethical foundation: people Care, Earth Care, Fair Shares.

F is for Food Forest. A food forest is a garden modeled upon a forest.

G is for Gardening, garden, and gardener. Gardeners are growing food, herbs and flowers in the garden.

H is for Hügelkultur: Hügelkultur is raised garden beds filled with rotten wood and covered with soil and compost. These raised beds require little attention after the seeds are planted.

I is for Insects. Not all insects are bad, some help the garden grow, be able tell a friend from a foe.

J is for Jam. Jams are made from berries that grow in a garden.

K is for Kale. Kale is a green leafy plant that you can grow.

L is for Leaves. When the leaves fall from the trees, rake them up and put them on the garden. This keeps the garden bed warm.

M is for Mulch. Mulch protects the garden. Leaves, straw, and even cardboard can be used as mulch.

N is for Nitrogen. Nitrogen is a naturally occurring chemical which helps plants grow.

O is for Oxygen. People need oxygen. Plants give off oxygen during the day.

P is for Permaculture.  The word permaculture was coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. It is a combination of the words permanent and agriculture.

Q is for Queen. Honeybee hives have a Queen bee.

R is for Renewable Resources. Use and value Renewable Resources is one of the Permaculture Principles.

S is for Seeds. Seeds planted in the Soil will become the vegetables you have with your Supper.

T is for Trees. Trees provide us with oxygen, food, shelter, shade and fun.

U is for Urban Agriculture. Urban agriculture is growing food in the city.

V is for Vegetables. Carrots, potatoes, radishes, turnips, cabbages and beets are all vegetables you can grow in the garden.

W is for Worms. Worms work the soil creating tunnels so air and water can get to the plants’ roots.

X is for Xylem is a type of tissue in plants that carries water.

An example of xylem is the material that moves water and some nutrients through a plant.

Y is for Yield. A Yield from the garden are the vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers you harvest.

Z is for Zero Waste.  Create no waste is a permaculture principle.

Your Lawn: Why?

 

Lawns, they are everywhere. I go for a walk and block after block there are lawns. Churches, schools, private homes, businesses all have space that could be growing food either communally or individually but are not.

Some are well kept and look pretty but how many resources are used to keep them looking that way? Why, is this happening when you can grow food and have an attractive site at the same time?

Apple trees look great on a front lawns.

If you do not want to eat them yourself or do the work, engage someone to do it for you. It should not be hard to find an individual or a food bank who might be willing to pick apples for free and save you the labour while doing something good for others.

Backyards can be converted from empty spaces that suck up water to food forests. The backyard food forest meets not only you and your family’s needs but provides food and shelter for butterflies and songbirds.

The first step is to determine what purpose your yards serve. The front yard is typically the show piece, where curb appeal may be the main goal. Also, and this you will want to check before starting any renovations, municipal bylaws often control what you can grow, so find out before digging.

However, an herb garden can be a thing of considerable beauty especially if it is mixed with edible flowers. Tomatoes and basil may be an unusual combo for the front yard but grow them in attractive containers and enjoy both the visual and nutritional benefits this arrangement can provide.

A small orchard composed of dwarf fruit trees, can be a strong design statement for the front yard as well as giving you fruit you can readily pick.

Moving around back, what purpose does this space serve? The backyard is where family and friend gather, children play and pets roam. You may want to keep some of it for that purpose, but the rest can be converted into an organic vegetable garden.

If you are starting your first garden or if you are simply adding another bed to an existing garden, there are a few things that you can do that will not only reduce the work that you do but will help create the conditions that will enable the plants you select to flourish.

So go outside and look at your front and back yards how much lawn do you really need?

Houseplants

 

Houseplants bring year round gardening right into your living room. You do not have to wait until spring to get out into the garden you can live in it all through the four seasons.

You have chosen to be an indoor garden so that you can enjoy the benefits of gardening inside. So the first do for the houseplant gardener is- get to know your plants and be comfortable with them.

What do I mean by comfortable, think of them as friends, welcome additions to your home. If this sounds strange then you are really going to wonder about the next do- do talk with them. I am not suggesting that you sit down and have a lengthy political or philosophical discussion with them but when you approach them say hello.

A kind word or two can’t hurt and it will help you accept the plants as a living member of your home; one that needs your care and attention. Once you have broken the ice you will find it more difficult to forget to water them.

Do develop the habit of visiting them several times a week and taking a close look at what is going on. Are there any changes? Are the leaves drooping or turning yellow? When you take this closer look you will be able to spot changes and get warning signals about potential problems. Forewarned is forearmed.

Do rotate your plants. Plants will lean towards the light source, this is called phototropic. If you fail to rotate them, they will grow lopsided so about once a week rotate them.

Do water with warm water at room temperature.

Do clean your plants, outside nature will take care of the plant’s hygiene but indoors it is all on you. Remove any yellow leaves, fallen leaves and flowers. Wash the plants leaves once a month with arm water and a drop or two of an environmentally friendly dish soap.

Don’t water with ice cold water as the sudden shock, think how you react when cold water is poured on you, can cause leaves to drop and the roots will not soak up the cold water.

Don’t fertilize if soil is dry, first water.

Don’t let the plants stand in drafts, like us , they become chilled, plants will also lose moisture and wilt.

Don’t, in winter let plant leaves touch a cold or icy windowsill.

If you move your plants outside during the heat of the summer, do remember that outside they will dry out faster than they do inside. You may need to water them daily. Do not take them out until after the threat of the last frost of the season ahs passed and do not leave them out overnight for the first three weeks.

You already know the light requirements of your houseplants so do place them where they will get what they need.

If you follow these basic dos and dont’s your indoor garden will reward you with brilliant foliage and flowers for many years. Remember you have brought them into your home and by doing so have accepted much of the responsibility for their care.

They will pay you back many times over for the attention you provide.

Garden Design Basics

 

There are two things that you need to remember when designing a garden. Pay attention to both and you will create a space that you and your family can enjoy.

The first one is simple: It’s your garden. You do not have to please anyone else with your plant choices but yourself.

The second one is what I call the right plant right place rule or RPRP. When you place a plant where the conditions give it what it needs (water, soil, light) that plant will do well and reward you with fruit and flower throughout the season.

For RPRP to work you need to know three things:

One: what are the conditions where you are planning to garden, for example how much sunlight and/or shade?

Two: Be sure the plant gets the water it needs. If you are in a dry area, use plants that can tolerate the dry conditions, if the site is wet, use plants that like it wet.

Three: will the plant grow in your garden hardiness zone.

More on zones in a 

future hub,Talk with the staff at the local plant nursery, ideally seek out the manger or owner when you have specific questions.

Now that you have the bare essentials we will move on to the other design elements that will help you create a garden that everyone can enjoy.

Basic Garden Design Elements:

· Line is likely the most important design element and certainly is the one you will most often use in your design. For an informal look use a curved line for a more formal one use straight lines..

· Texture is defined in 3 categories. 1-Coarse includes plants, structures and hardscapes that are bold and large. 2-Medium texture takes in many plants and smaller structures. 3-Fine includes plants such as ferns and grasses and structures that are thin and delicate.

· Form is the shape and structure of your plants, hardscapes or garden structures.

· Colour is the visual POP in your design. Blues, Purples and Greens are calming and seem to move away from you. Whereas warm colors like red, orange and yellow seems to bring things closer to you.

· Scale or proportion in the landscape is simply the size of your plants or structures and how they relate to each other and the area you are landscaping.

You now have the basics. It does not matter whether or garden is large, small or somewhere in-between, if you follow RPRP and apply the five design principles you will enjoy the results. Happy gardening.

Sugar Free Apple Pie Recipe

 

First a bit of history, when did we first start to grow apples? The logical place to start our exploration of the apple's history in Canada is in Atlantic Canada. Fruit growing was introduced to Nova Scotia by the early French settlers sometime in the early 1600s. They were a self-sufficient lot; each homestead had several apple trees. By drying apples, settlers could have the fruit available to them year round to make pies, puddings, tarts and many other dishes.

Apple sauce is fairly easy to keep and very handy to have in the fridge. It goes great with oatmeal or pork and can be added to a smoothie or enjoyed all by itself.

Apple sauce:

Ingredients:

12 apples, peeled, cored and diced

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup water

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preparation

1. In a heavy-bottomed, 4L (4 quarts) saucepan, combine the apples, raisins and water.

2. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, adding more water as needed to maintain desired thickness and to avoid sticking.

3. Remove from the heat and blend in a food processore until smooth. For an even smoother texture, press through a fine strainer.

4. Add cinnamon once blended.

Apple Pie; Sugar free

I use frozen pie shells two, one for the bottom and one on top.

Ingredients

6 small or four large cooking apples (Granny Smith are often recommended but I use whatever I have)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch nutmeg

1 tsp butter

Preparation:

Peel and slice apples into small slices

Place apples, butter in pie shell

Sprinkle cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract over apples

Place 2nd pie shell on top

Mould edges of top pie shell to fit bottom pie shell.

Use a fork to poke a few small holes in top shell.

Pre-heat over to 425 F.

Place pie in oven.

Bake approximately 35 minutes or until crust browns.

Remove from oven cool and serve.

A Houseplant Primer

 Gardening is a joy and a great way to unwind and get a way from it all. There is no reason that when the outside gardening season comes to an end that you need to forgo this activity, you simply move it inside.

Indoor gardening can bring you pleasure and joy as you experience a new plant breaking the soil and emerging into the light. Indoors you may actually be able to watch the plant develop as you witness each stage.

Indoor plants also bring beauty and will enhance your indoor décor. They can greet visitors when they first arrive and be there when they leave imparting to the visitor the visitor depart with a sense of vitality.

Over the years I have been given plants by people who claim that anything left in their care simply withered away or that they were just not gardeners.

To this I say nonsense. If you follow a few basic rules, such as putting the right plant in the right place, giving it the food and water it needs the plant will flourish.

My enjoyment of house plants began about 20 years ago when we moved into a furnished apartment; it had a number of plants and the owner had left detailed instruction for their care and feeding. I was a bit daunted at first, there were over 20 plants to look after and different watering schedules for some of them. I followed the instructions in the six months we lived there and nearly gave up on the idea that I would keep an indoor garden.

Then we moved into another fully furnished place that also came with plants but this time no instructions. The owner simply said live with them, do a little homework and all will be well.

It was. I went to the public library to do some reading but mainly to identify the plants that were there so I could get to know them. In time, I was getting plants from people who were moving and propagating by cuttings to expand the garden.

Getting Started: Plant Placement

Step One: Light

Know your space; where will the plants live? Windows are the main source of natural light for indoor plants so which way do the windows face? If you live in the northern hemisphere, the sun will move in the southern sky which means that a window that faces north does not get direct sun; while an unobstructed southern window will get direct sunlight all day long.

An east facing window receives morning sun and a west facing window will see sun in the afternoon.

Step Two: Temperature

Plants, for the most part, will require a drop in temperature at night, why/ The nighttime temperature needs to be 8 to 10 degrees cooler than the day as during the day, the leaves of the plant manufacture their food and it is only the lower temperature at night that allows them to distribute it to the roots and other growing parts.

Step Three: Humidity.

House can become very dry especially in the winter time when the heat is on and plants will simply dry out. Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air surrounding the plant; this affects how a plant transpires. Transpiration is how the leaves and stem of the plant give off water which then evaporates into the surrounding air.

If the air around the plant is dry, the plant will then give off too much water and may wilt.

Mist your plants on a regular basis especially in the winter and you will have few problems.

You can also arrange your plants into groups which will then increase their combined transpiration and humidity which will increase the water vapor.

Soil:

I recommend buying a potting soil, preferably organic to grow your houseplants in; there are specialized soils for African violets and succulents for example.

You now have enough knowledge to get started. There is only one thing more to do and that is determine how much time you have to devote to your indoor garden. There is work to do and if you start too big the chances of failure increase, start small, get used to the garden and then expand. I have seen a room go from 2 plants to be so full with plants that it was necessary to remove a chair and an end table.

This is fine, if you can manage a garden of this proportion but a nightmare if it dominates all your time.

Indoor gardening is a great way to unwind; to slow down and enjoy, do not let your indoor garden outgrow you.

Soil Brings Life

 "Society, like a house, does not start at ground level  but begins quite literally beneath the surface of our planet within the soil." 

Healthy soil, healthy plants , healthy beings.

The quote was written in 1933. The truth of it is relevant to today 

One Seed. Gardening & Self-Esteem

 

It all begins with a seed, one seed. 

If it does not grow, you plant another and watch it grow. You may want to make a few notes the first time you plant a seed to record what you did and this enables you to repeat the same process or to make changes.

What is important here is not whether the first seed springs into life, but that you plant the second seed and the third.

One of the major faults in our society is to focus on mistakes and doing things wrong. We grade people rather than encourage them. We can only learn by doing and if the first time we try something and it does not work and we get a failing or poor grade we are not encouraged to try again.

What is needed is to change this grading approach to a learn by doing approach; an approach that rewards effort and activity. We must also see the doing as a learning experience that is neither right nor wrong but is education in action. Do this and much else changes.

Our education system, both formal (school) and informal (family, friends), often makes people afraid to step forward and come to the blackboard for fear of being ridiculed and laughed at; this is simply wrong and will not build confidence.

Confidence in yourself is an integral part of self-esteem or how you view you in comparison/contrast to others around you.

When you are confident in yourself you can embrace risk and by doing so learn and grow.

Gardening can assist this process. How?

Gardening is a learn by doing experience that requires the gardener to take a chance and observe and record the results. Careful observation and interaction will allow the gardener to see what works and what does not so that the gardener can learn from the experience and make necessary changes to improve the process.

You cannot fail.

Not all you plant will grow but you will always get positive results if you know your garden, yourself and put the right plant in the right place.

To improve you self-confidence through gardening, start small. Pick three herbs that you like and use in your cooking and pot them up and place them either indoors or out, depending upon where you live and the time of year. Make sure they are placed where they get six hours of sunlight each day and water them as needed.

They will grow.

Make notes of what you did so you can repeat the process or make changes. I always suggest that people keep a garden journal. It does not have to be elaborate. A notebook will do for a small garden. Record what you plant where and when and add regular updates based upon your observations.

You can gradually expand your garden dependent upon your time and available space.

If it is winter where you are when you begin, you can expand you herb garden indoors, or work with houseplants. Keep notes as you go and save seed packs so you know what you plant. The seed pack contains all the information you need to plant your seeds properly.

If you take the first step and plant that first seed and you continue to plant, care for, harvest and record you will notice a often subtle change in your daily behaviour. You have accomplished something and continue to do so on a regular basis.

Over time as you knowledge and skill grows you will also become aware of the wonder of Nature and all that comes together to make a seed become a plant. This is a humbling experience and an essential one as this experience is what prevents confidence from becoming arrogance.

Plant a seed and grow.