A Call To Reason

If I were to have to sum up my personal philosophy in one sentence or less it is probably "go big or go home." I like plans: big plans, grand plans. I can also be a little obsessive with a schooch of compulsive thrown in for good measure. Want mountains out of molehills? I am your gal. I swear I have "reach for the sky" or some other similar trite and inspirational saying ingrained into the deepest layers of my psyche. It is a compulsion, this desire to not only accomplish something but to also do it in the biggest, most insane way possible. This often leads to the spectacular collapse of the aforementioned plans when that little thing called reality sets in. Lucky for me, the results are usually amusing.

Take my attempts at gardening, for example. Please note, I live in an apartment - a small apartment with a small balcony. Last year - in the excitement of having a garden for the first time ever - I may have gone just the teeniest, tiniest bit overboard with the whole garden concept. I was so happy, buying lots of pretty pots and lots of cute little seedlings. The tiny plants in their tiny pots were so adorable! Four kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of peppers, cucumber, squash and cabbage, even rainbow swiss chard (whatever that tasted like) in their wee little pots. Once those tiny little seedlings started growing it became absolutely clear I hadn't considered that they would indeed do that whole growing thing, and keep on growing until the balcony was overrun with greenery. After about a month we pretty much had to abandon the idea of actually sitting down on the balcony and just let the plants have it. No one wants to risk injury fighting a seven foot tall cherry tomato tree, after all.

I am proud to say that I actually took some lessons away from last year's debacle. I am hoping this marks a milestone in my whole learning curve thing. I managed to buy plants this time around while practicing the admirable skills of moderation and restraint. (It helped that it started raining - hard - while I was standing outside choosing plants, but we will ignore that.) This year we might actually be able to sit and share the balcony with the plants. What a thought!

Orange & Green Peppers:



Cherry Tomatoes:



Dark Opal Basil and Oregano:



English Lavender:



Cucumbers:



Isn't it all lovely? I spared you all the photo of the pot of dirt that one day might sprout lettuce. It wasn't exciting.

I am also desperately trying to ignore the little voice in my head that thinks we really need a few more plants. I exerted such self control after all, there is room for a few more. Really, there is. I forgot some great plants we could really use, like thyme, and rosemary, and chives....