Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man

We started off with another very nice day.

Although I had planned on stopping at Lowe’s to get some more mulch, I did have some impulse buys too. While heading towards the mulch, I rolled by some raised garden dirt. It caught my eye, but I didn’t grab any until I was on my way back to the register.

Then, of course, while I was putting two bags of the soil in my cart, along with the four bags of mulch, the flowers that are now on display called to me.

We have a little courtyard outside our front door. There are a couple of petunias that believe they are perennials blooming right now. They look so lonely I have been thinking of what to put with them. There were some colorful pansies which caught my eye. So, I bought three six packs. They are now safely planted in the courtyard.

I’m not a huge fan of bags of soil since they have usually don’t look like dirt when opened. However, I decided to take a chance on the Miracle Grow soil because it was on sale. One of my raised gardens has a low level of soil and my plan is to grow carrots in it. But, since the soil was maybe six inches deep, I knew I’d have to add some dirt to make it viable for carrots that will grow to 8-10 inches long. Now they will have room to grow, and the bagged dirt actually looked like dirt when I emptied them into the bed.

Later, Richard and I stopped back at Lowe’s to look at pavers for an area in the backyard our son has cleared of rocks and such. For the past 12 or so years, we’ve been thinking of putting a mini patio in that area with a closed fire pit. We found pavers we both like, so hopefully the patio will be in process and finished soon.

Of course, I had to stop by the flowers again. Our front yard has some bare spots from previous plants that have died over the years. There were some pretty Brooms I thought would look good in two of the spots. Richard likes Spanish Brooms and we bought two, which are now happily planted. They can grow to six feet tall, so they’ll be a pretty greeting for guests. Plus, they attract bees, which is a nice benefit for the environment as well.

Gardening wasn’t really in my plans for the day, but it turned out to be quite nice and fun to get things going.

The best surprise I’ve saved for last. I recently ordered some heirloom seeds for my raised gardens from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. They came in the mail today. I was a little giddy opening them and looking at the packets. A garden nerd I am, and I’ve accepted it.

The real test will be can I be patient now and not plant too soon—give me the strength!

What do you plan on putting in your backyard garden this year?