Sauk County Gardener: Grateful

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.”— Germany Kent

The windy and wet weather has kept me more in the house lately. It’s a great time to look back over your gardens and make any last-minute journal notes of this past gardening season. This was my first year in my new raised vegetable garden beds and like other gardens, I had some good successes and some, well, not-so-good successes. With most of my outdoor garden tasks completed, I now have a little more time to make more detailed notes about them. As we head toward Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays, it is also a great time to note and reflect on what I’m grateful for from a gardening perspective.

I’m grateful for the abundance of produce my garden produced this year. I was picking beans up until October this year. Most of them I was able to can or freeze and, as they started to taper off finally, my husband and I still had enough for fresh green beans with a dinner or two each week. I successfully grew broccoli and Brussels sprouts for the first time this year and I am totally hooked. I will definitely plant them again next year. I’m grateful for my garden failures as well as they provided me with an opportunity to learn what didn’t work. My pantry and freezers are full and I’m grateful I will be able to share with family and friends.

I’m grateful for the rains we enjoyed this past summer. Unlike some gardeners, I only had to water my vegetable gardens a couple times this summer. (It’s a good thing because I forgot to shut the water off one time and really watered my tomatoes.) I never had to water my existing perennial beds and my newly established ones only needed little water after I planted. Believe it or not, I’m grateful for the upcoming cold, hopefully snowy, weather. It gives me a break from my garden chores and the snow protects my garden bulbs and plants. It also covers my garden and hides what I didn’t get done or where I still need to work on completing.

I’m grateful for my fellow Master Gardeners. This last spring, my little temporary greenhouse where I was trying to harden off my tomato plants, blew over on a particularly windy, spring day. My fellow Master Gardeners who had been raising tomato plants for our annual tomato plant workshop and sale (which we were not able to hold) provided me with some unique and interesting tomato heirloom tomato plants. I, once again, planted them too close together; but I had some amazing tomatoes this year. Master Gardeners are a wealth of gardening knowledge and I have used their help often in the past. I hope you consider using their help too in the future.

I’m grateful for my family who help in the garden, mostly willingly. My granddaughter has helped the past few years get all my containers planted and is now comfortable determining color and plant combinations. She also mows our yard when either I or my husband are unable to fit in that weekly task.

Our daughter is always willing to try a new plant, share one from her own gardens, and take the extra produce out of our gardens that I’m just too tired to can or freeze. Our son always seems to find me the best garden tools and help lift the heavy things. In years past, he has carried many rocks, bags of soil, and moved numerous heavy planted containers. I’m grateful for my siblings who enjoy gardening with me.

They are always willing to share their plants, accompany me on a road trip to a nursery or a tulip dig in Holland, MI, and even help plant when I’ve over estimated my ability to get everything planted when it should be done. I’m grateful for my in-laws who have encouraged my gardening obsession and for my grandmother who first introduced me to gardening.

Finally, I’m extremely grateful for my husband, Scott. Without him, I would not be able to accomplish half of what I have in our gardens. He has always helped me create all our perennial beds and is always encouraging me to try new things. This past year he built and installed eight raised garden beds and just finished building a permanent greenhouse. About the only thing he does not like to help with is weeding.

One time he found out his co-worker was tearing out the perennial beds at his new home and was going to throw all of them away. He arranged for us to go and load them up his pick-up bed full of those perennials and they became part of our very first garden beds. Over the years, he dug all the big holes and moved most of the soil and mulch. When we first got married, it was all by hand. Luckily now we have a tractor to help move soil and mulch.

I have much to be grateful for and I hope, as you take to reflect, you find what you are grateful for as well. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Remember to contact the University of Wisconsin Madison Division of Extension Sauk County staff if you have any gardening questions. Please send an email to haley.weisert@saukcountywi.gov or call the University of Wisconsin Madison Division of Extension Sauk County office at 608-355-3250.

Jeannie Manis is president of the Sauk County Master Gardeners Association (SCMGA).