I'm A Garden Meemaw! There is a special moment in a gardener's life when your kids ask for garden advice for the first time. I’m a Garden Meemaw!
As a parent, there are milestone moments in your children’s lives that let you know you’re on the right path and doing a decent job. When they learn to walk and talk or begin to notice the words on pages of the picture books you read to them at night. When you overhear them give a friend advice that you dolled out to them just a few weeks before. When they move into their first apartment and recreate a favorite meal they grew up eating at home.
But last spring, the greatest of all great milestones happened. My 20-year-old, who attends college ten hours away, called to chat.
“I have big news,” they said. “I want to plant a garden. Will you help me?” You know that scene in the movie where the Grinch’s heart swells seven sizes bigger than before, and his eyes become little hearts like he was watching the stray dog commercial narrated by Sarah McLachlan? That was me! My heart swelled up with pride and love like a cartoon. My eyes went all googly and misty, and I can’t say for sure, but I may have blacked out from sheer joy for a second or two.
When I returned to my body, we discussed the pros and cons of building a small, raised-bed garden, which was the first choice. I reminded my child that they lived in a rental on a college student budget. A raised bed might have to wait until they had a place of their own because it’s semi-permanent and more expensive. Finally, they decided to start with various pots and planters instead and headed off to the hardware store.
Garden questions galoreOver the next week, I received a flurry of excited texts, calls, and Facetimes that went
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