As I don't have any followers at this point, nobody has probably noticed my year plus of absence. If someone did happen to stumble upon this blog by chance once and then came across it again, let me explain, I haven't been writing because of an autoimmune illness which left me exhausted for the past two years. I'm learning how to deal with it.
I finally have a little energy and motivation so I'm starting the writing back up! Soon, I'll talk about how I finished my PhD and my first postdoc while dealing with the physical and emotional effects of chronic illness.
But not today. Today is all about my mom. Or, at least, her gardening.
My mom is a lifelong gardener. It is her talent and her passion. My West Virginia home is filled and surrounded by plants and flowers. Some of these are older than I am (~30)!
These are the essential tools (and great gift ideas) for any gardener based on my mom.
1.Garden Tiller
I think the tiller is my mom's favorite tool. At least in the Spring and the Autumn. As soon as the ground is soft, she pulls this out and tills up her garden. Then in the fall when everything is winding down, she aggressively tills everything under and covers the dirt in compost and dirt. Sometimes she'll plant winter wheat just to till it under in the spring. This is a tiny lady, almost 70 years old, and she loves putting in a hard day's work.
2. Flower bulbs
This is a go-to gift if you're a poor graduate student who has a gardener for a mother. Mother's Day? Birthday? Done. Over the years I have bought her tulips, irises, and gladiolas. She excitedly plants them right away or saves them for the right time of year. Then when I come home from wherever I am in the world, she points out all the flowers which resulted from my purchase.
3. Gardening Gloves
After my first postdoc ended, I became very sick and decided to head home to the Wild and Wonderful for a bit of rest and recuperation. I was inevitably put to work helping her landscape a dry creek bed. I had to dig footers and pull up weeds. Gloves saved my pipetting hands.
4. Heirloom seeds
Have you ever tried a heirloom tomato? Yes? Then you get it. No? You are in for a pleasant surprise.
5. Loppers
When you wake up at 7AM and your mom is already outside working, you feel a little guilty. No matter that you have a PhD and are well-respected in your field (I hope!), this lady is beating you at the game. When I walked outside one morning, I was handed a pair of loppers. First, I thought of all my happy memories cutting straw twigs and branches. Then I thought about my summer on the Ohio River Islands culling invasive plants. Then I realized she wanted me to trim the Boxwood tree and that I had a lot of work to do. Loppers are great for pruning and for putting your wayward vagabond of a daughter to work.
6. Marigolds
I think there is some science that suggests marigolds are an insect deterrent. If there is not, then there's an Old Wives Tale. Anyway, their pungent distinct scent seems like it could deter anything. To me, it's instant time travel to hot summer afternoons in my childhood. Each row of vegetables book-ended by a marigold.
7. Sunhat
Gardeners are people who love the elements. The type of people who open their windows after a thunderstorm to smell the petrichor. These are people who relish dirt under their nails and the wind in their face. Unfortunately, many of them forget to protect themselves against the sun. Sun damage can be bad cosmetically, but can also lead to skin cancers. Help your favorite gardener: buy them a sunhat.
8. Composter
I know I said the tiller may be my mom's favorite toy, but she has always been a hardcore composter. Husband's morning coffee grounds: composted. All the fall leaves she has her granddaughter rake up: composted. Branches from that boxwood tree: composted. In our house, if it was biodegradable, it was composted. In graduate school, there was a movement to increase composting on the university campus. My mom could have run circles around them.
9. Bamboo Stakes
Sustainable? Check. Perfect for bean poles? Check. Perfect for tomato stakes? Check. Perfect for your kids to pretend to be knights of the roundtable? Check.
10. Greenhouse
My mom's biggest dream was to have a greenhouse so she could start her garden earlier in the year, grow her seeds into seedlings, and maybe have an orchid or two. A few years ago, she finally got her wish. I'm happy to report that she treks down there during the cold and the rain to look over her little seed babies. She even built a stone walk leading to it. Buy your gardener a greenhouse and they will grow up so many different foods for you to eat.
Amazon links above because I have student loans yo.
