Once the soil has been broken up and fertilized, the next step is to actually plant the garden. The reason the ground needs to be tilled is to make the soil soft and receptive to new growth.
It takes work to create a soft enough environment for fresh growth. When I first broke ground to plant the garden I have now it took me easily three days of work before anything could be planted. Of course, I ran into plenty of obstacles along the way. Roots from neighboring trees, invasive grubs, hard packed soil that rejected my hand till. Each obstacle needed to be dealt with before I could put in any new plants if I wanted them to thrive.
It may surprise some to learn how important roots are to plants. Roots have a lot of jobs to serve the plants they belong to. Roots serve as a support network-not just for the plant attached to them but in many cases for their neighbors too, tap roots are sent deep in the earth looking for water, root hairs collect nutrients from the surrounding environment- often finding fungus friends for enhanced feeding opportunities.
People are no different. We need support and nourishment to truly thrive. Our roots are what we're surrounded by- the media we consume, the people we hang out with, even the places we visit have a deep impact on how we live and thrive. If we surround ourselves with angry, toxic things, our roots will absorb that and send it to our hearts. It can be difficult to become unentwined from what is familiar or to remove things that aren't great for the future we want.
I know how hard it can be. I have had to remove people from my life to protect my kid and myself. While the work was hard, I know in making those choices my soil is much healthier; and space has been cleared for healthy, dare I say symbiotic, relationships to grow.
Did you know there are five kinds of ecological relationships? Competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. I promise, no lectures today, just fun food for thought. Gardening has introduced me into watching these relationships firsthand, even if I didn't know it! The one that might feel the most familiar is parasitism. I know this is one I fight with the most in the form of Japanese beetles.
The devastation those critters brought to some of my favorite plants was truly a gruesome sight to behold. They had no idea who they crossed. I took "know thy enemy" to heart and dove into Google, determined to destroy the iridescent irritants. I learned about their larval stage, grubs. The best time to attack before they can cause visible damage, though there is little I could do about the damage grubs do to root systems.
An interesting thing. These eventual beetles start their onslaught early where no one can see until it's too late and the roots are so damaged large patches of grass are destroyed. To me that sounds like another kind of parasite. Toxic friends.
The toxic friend (toxicus amicus) can do incredible amounts of hidden damage before revealing their true colors. Even then, the damage can be difficult to reverse unless it's caught early. But that's a difficult thing, first seeing and recognizing that a person you've grown to love and trust is not good for you, but then another thing entirely to remove them from your life. Of course, like any pest, removal is often messy. And like any other pest, they will continue to cause damage until they've been removed from the environment.
The most difficult battle in the garden, at least in my opinion, is hard ground. Problem roots can be removed and invasive pests can be managed. But hard ground? The only thing for that is equally hard work. Driving a till at the ground until the surface starts to give enough to turn over. Sounds fairly easy, right? Until that till bounces off the ground. I was not exaggerating when I said it took me days to turn over the earth enough to plant.
At the end of all the work, the soil is ready for fresh growth to be planted and take root in the soft, healthy soil and thrive.
Dear reader, let yourself plant seeds that will grow into something beautiful in your future.
Blessings,
Willow R.
Essential Oil Specialist
Owner, Rooted in my Strength
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