Cold Climate Gardening

Not too long ago I was ruminating on the possible reasons why more older gardeners aren’t blogging. Besides all the reasons I mentioned in that post, there was also a more personal reason for thinking about it. Let’s face it, this is my future we’re looking at. Already my vision is worse than it used to be, I get aches from typing too long, and neither my flexibility nor my posture has improved from the time I spend in front of a computer monitor. Sure, I thrive on the technology now, but when I’m a really “old dog”, will I still be learning new tricks? Or will it seem like too much bother? And that’s looking at the blogging end of things. We all know gardening isn’t going to get any easier.

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I was one of several garden bloggers inteviewed by Doug Green for an article on garden blogging for The American Gardener, which is published by the American Horticultural Society. I thought the article was a good overview for beginners on the topic, not going too deeply into the technology behind blogging but maintaining accuracy.

Really, you shouldn’t need to know any more about how blogging works in order to blog, than you need to know how a car works in order to drive it. I don’t think we’re quite there yet, though I’m trying to do my part.

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In my series on Garden Blog Pioneers, I reported in the final part that Notes From Zone 4 was MIA. Well, they’re back.

If you ever had doubts that a cold climate garden could look good, take one look at their banner image and doubt no more. Then, appetite whetted, browse through their gallery. A sight for snow-blinded eyes.

As noted in their About section and other places on the site, they are very involved in raising animals now, and the garden takes a back seat. But of course, even in the animal department, they don’t do things halfway. I had never heard of Icelandic sheep, and wasn’t aware that any sheep breed could live on the …

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I just want you to know I am continuing my resolve to get stronger for gardening. You got that right–it’s not spring training, it’s training for spring!

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Gardeners know that the calendar year is an artificial construct. It’s not even so much that the new year really begins in spring, as that to everything there is a season. Consequently, I find the concept of New Year’s resolutions rather alien to my thinking and way of life. I am resolving to do better at one thing or another throughout the year as it is brought to my attention. This blogging challenge put me in mind to share some of my garden-related resolutions with you. Most important resolution: Get stronger. They say a gardener’s hands are her most important tools, but what good are hands without strong arms, shoulders, back . . . you get the idea. I’ve learned from personal experience that gardening is a lot more fun when the heavy work isn’t such a struggle. And increased strength decreases the kind of muscle sprains that can sideline a gardener who doesn’t want to spare a minute on the sidelines. But yeah, it takes time to build up strength–and maintain it.

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