As I write this, the first heat wave of the summer is almost at its end. Every morning I go to the garden, after I feed the cats and make an iced coffee. I enjoy that it's 78 degrees at 7:30am instead of 90. Regardless of the temperature, I visit my patio garden morning, noon and night. It’s hard to believe that the growing season is halfway over. I’ve learned a lot from my garden this summer, and the lessons learned have run parallel with my studio practice.
Lesson 1: Trial and Error
Some combinations work and some don’t. The soil in one of my planter boxes was weak and did not allow for any drainage, causing my plants to drown. I mixed a compost bag into the soil and it's improved since, but it’s not as nutrient rich as my other planter boxes’s soil combination. Sometimes when you think you’re doing things right, you’re actually wrong. “Practice makes better, because nothing’s perfect,” said a very wise school teacher I once had.
Lesson 2: Humility
Gardening makes you humble quickly. For example, I grew my cherry tomatoes from seeds into four-foot tall adult plants. I am incredibly proud and attached to my cherry tomatoes. They were lush and leafy and then, suddenly, a fungus started yellowing and killing off the leaves. I had to act fast to ensure that the top half of the plant would survive. To ensure its survival, I cut back over half of its leaves. Which worked, my tomato plants fruits are now ripening. Too much water + humidity = tomato fungus. Nature has its own plan and you have to learn to work with it.
Lesson 3: Patience
I started my garden in early April, by preparing the soil in my planter boxes and containers. Three months later, my garden is just now starting to yield vegetables. Everyday I prune, water, and add or remove shade, in the hopes that what I’m growing yields an edible crop. So much of my day-to-day is taking notice of the small changes and achievements. I notice and appreciate that my raspberry bush is sending up new stalks because it’s getting the right amount of shade/water, I notice honey bees visiting my flowering mint plants (which doesn’t happen often, unfortunately) and I notice each day, that my two pepper plants are continuing to produce new peppers. Every little moment makes the big moments twice as worthwhile.
Cherry Tomatoes that are ripening.
My time in the garden has made me acutely aware of the importance of pollinators. They come in all different shapes, sizes and species. Without them we’re doomed because our food sources are dependent upon pollination. Monarch butterflies are now listed as an endangered species (see NY Times article), mainly due to pesticide use on American farms and habitat loss across North and South America. Monarchs lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants. Without milkweed, monarchs can’t produce the next generation of butterflies, which is leading to their rapid decline. This news really upset me, so I’m doing my part by educating myself on what I can do in my own garden to support urban pollinators. Below are four books I bought second-hand, that I’ll be reading and responding to - in the garden and in the studio.
And finally, on a happier note: I was offered a solo show at Holy Family University, opening in January 2023! I am beyond excited and thankful for this opportunity. The plight of the monarch butterfly and the advocacy for other species of plants and animals will be the core concept of the exhibition. I’m currently in the ideas stage: reading, writing, sketching and reflecting. Below are a few works on paper that I recently started. I can’t wait to see where things are headed!
Bud (our new kitten!) and Pickle checking out a new collage. I’m reusing older works on paper in this one.
A few other small works on paper that I started. I prefer to work on 2-3 small pieces at a time.