Green Thumb

My parents are leaving for an almost-month-long trip to Maui in May (I am severely jealous and racking my brain on how to logistically crash their party). Yesterday my dad wanted to go over some "plant care & watering basics" with me, since I somehow got roped into being his groundskeeper while they are away. Which, by the way, is interesting- seeing that I was the "chosen one" last time they vacationed in paradise. Also, last time I was pregnant, sick to my stomach, and there were some serious wildfires that forced us to evacuate. So you'll understand why this time around, I had some negative associations with the whole duty. Side note: Zach now lives in Watsonville, and is therefore much closer to my parents house then in years past. Also, Zach is very good at fixing things and making things look pretty. I'm pretty sure Zach has a natural green thumb because somehow everything he touches turns to gold. And yet....somehow my dad thinks I'm the gal for the job. I wonder when his regret will sink in.

It was all pretty straightforward (although I was told this was only the first part of a 4-part tutorial series....) and the whole time he's giving watering instructions, I'm thinking to myself- oh no. We totally have plants, shrubs, trees & flowers now in our OWN new backyard. Was I supposed to have been watering THESE this whole time??? Which, I guess is the main reason I have yet to keep anything in the plant world alive and healthy.

So, this morning I decided to form a new habit: Watering the Plants. It was actually quite peaceful. Dan is gone this morning, Ella was napping, Ben was completely engrossed in Pinnochio, and so I took the opportunity to spend some time in our yard and guesstimate how much water our daisies, nectarine trees, and rose bushes might be thirsty for. Being a complete novice to the world of gardening, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed my alone time out there. I started to "get" what I've heard avid gardeners talk about in their zeal for gardening. I have no idea if what I did was helpful or hurtful to these mysterious plants/shrubs, but by golly, I will not be responsible for these things dying due to lack of water.

During my time outside I started thinking that really gardening can't be all TOO difficult. I mean, somehow I've managed to grow, care for and keep two children healthy & happy. How could some plants be more difficult than that? I realize I know nothing about fertilizing or flower/plant temperaments, but I'm kind of ready to jump on this gardening bandwagon. I tend to get great ideas in my head, and then have trouble with follow through so I'm hoping this isn't another Nicole Phase. In any case, here's what I'm hoping to add to the backyard garden:

• More rose bushes (maybe the tee tiny ones? I really like those. But I definitely want to add some orangey hues)
• Potted tomato plants (hopefully to grow those wonderfully delicious but expensive heirloom tomatoes of all colors
  
• Zucchini (because we eat more zucchini than any other vegetable
  
• Herb garden (the chef's essentials: Italian parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary & thyme)
• A lemon tree (the one thing I miss from our previous abode, the Apple Farm house)
  
• A few sunflowers* because they are the happiest and friendliest flowers I know of
  

*For Ben's Easter basket, I included a cute little "grow your own sunflower" kit that I found at the dollar section at Target. I thought it would be fun for Ben to have his own little science project. To be honest, I really didn't expect the plant to do much growing, especially because it comes with its own "greenhouse" that looked too cheap to do the job. But we are a couple weeks into it, after planting the seeds ourselves and watching it grow in our kitchen windowsill, and low and behold! Look:






Yay for us! We haven't killed it yet! And not only that, it seems to be quite happy!

Now- I realize my thumb won't be turning green anytime soon, but I'm excited to get my hands a bit dirty and put a little TLC into the backyard, and see what happens. And I'll keep you posted on our progress.