My Garden Guru

For years my Father had a huge garden, 20'x44' to be exact. It was his place to unwind everyday after work. I could see the happiness in his eyes as he hand watered it with the hose, the gentle sway of the hose from left to right as he gave his little plants the life they desired. My Father was, is, and always will be my gardening guru. I remember in the spring we would go to the city lot where we would get loads and loads of free compost. He would till his garden across the width then across the length. He wold plan his layout on paper for weeks. My father used the same twenty foot 2x6 to mark his rows for as long as I can remember. I never really got into gardening with Dad. Looking back I wish I spent more time working the soil him. I think my passion was handed down to me in the same secret fashion that making sure you turn off the lights is.

When I was younger my Father and I planted a red maple. That tree grew to have a canopy that would make any Canadian proud, that canopy also blocked the afternoon sun from Dad's garden. I always said “let's just cut it down”. Dad never did have a response for that. He would move everything around each year in hopes that it would do better the next year., he always said it was to help the garden, I knew it was because of the maple.

63 and retired, my Father lives in Grand Marais, a small town in Minnesota,40 miles southwest from the Canadian border on Lake Superior. The growing season is very different from his old garden in Minnetonka (just outside of Minneapolis). My Dad's garden is barely 10x10 now, but he loves it as much, if not more than his previous garden. The challenge of the short growing season, finding soil amendments, the rocks. The northeastern region of Minnesota is one big rock. Yesterday I had spent the afternoon looking at seed catalogs with Dad. You could see his eyes light up as found watermelons that would work for him (he never grew them when I was a kid, I begged him to but he said his garden was to small, lol). We looked for hours and hours. Both of us planning our harvest, what we would can, what we can give away, what new and exciting things we can make, and what new techniques we can use to make all this possible.

People have been working the soil for years. My Father still uses tricks that my Grandmother taught him. I still use tricks that my Grandmother taught my Father. Somethings never change. People say that you cant teach an old dog new tricks. I gently helped change my Dad's mind about a few things for next year. When I drew an example of a potato tower and how they work, he was sold. We planned out how he can grow “up” rather then “out” with his cucumbers and beans.

Working the soil is like so many other lessons in life. If we remain open minded, teachable, and willing to teach it benefits all rather than just one. My Dad taught me most everything I know about gardening, it makes me feel grateful to let him in on a few new things I have learned along the way. I hope in the coming years my gardening knowledge database can grow (organically of course), be shared, and helpful for all.