Last week my partner was asking me what I thought we should plan for plants this Spring…neither of us are very green fingered but we give it a go! Every year with varying results!
I immediately reacted to his question and said I don’t think I’ve got time to look after seeds and plants after what happened last year and in that moment noticed the over reaction to his question.
Interesting! So where was it coming from? Did I really not have time, did I not want to get dirt under my nails, watch seeds sprout??
Last year, I’d really enjoyed planting trays and trays of seeds and watching them grow, cleaning up soil, re-potting them when they grew out of their pots, keeping them watered – it’s brilliant as a mindfulness exercise in itself, the little one loved it and I was really looking forward to planting them out and enjoying their fruits and flowers. We wanted to make sauerkraut knowing no pesticides had been near our cabbages!
🌱✨🌱
Then… slowly but surely the plants got neglected …we got really buried in the thick of our house extension decisions and clean up and one day when I was at work the pots became trapped in our sun room with tonnes of furniture and building materials and general heavy crap in front of them there was no way of getting to them.
Most nights in the evenings after as I went to sleep I thought of them – it was a passing thought but I didn’t have the energy or the motivation to give them my full attention or really think about rescuing them or ask for help… five days later they had all died. Tomato plants, cabbages, flowers – everything was gone!
I guess if I’d tuned into that passing thought before I few asleep what I actually felt was I had more time…they could wait 24hours longer…I’d do it tomorrow… I’d mention it to our lovely builders but the bigger picture was that I was just overwhelmed at everything I was dealing with in that moment and they’d become another “thing” to do and not one I could easily manage or fix.
This afternoon the magic happened – I noticed something from the window – a lone cabbage plant outside – at some point I must have transferred some of the bigger ones to the soil and it AMAZED me it was still alive!
So, my point here is… I have to accept the plants died and maybe get better at acting on those subtle thoughts before sleep…
BUT… It’s not a bad thing in and of itself and it doesn’t mean I am a terrible plant mum or I couldn’t take care of more plants if I chose to.
AND it might just be that the one cabbage that survived is the absolute best cabbage we’ve ever eaten… if the 🐛 doesn’t get it first!
So the most important part for me this month after acceptance is the next action!
So this spring, I’m wiping the soil slate clean and seeing what action I want to take when we FINALLY see some sun ☀️ 🌞 enjoying the process and not beating myself up about the sad visual memories remaining of tens of shrivelled up seedlings and plants showing me what could have been or I wasn’t coping as well as I’d wanted! 🌸🌱🌸✨
If you’d like to read about my monthly intent for March “Acceptance and Action” and why I set monthly intents I’d love to invite you to do that! 💖