Dear Carol,
How is your winter going so far? I hope you had a restful holiday and that in between working and whatever else it is you do to wile away the hours of winter, you are finding some time to think about the garden this spring.
Remember our last therapy session, late last fall? I believe it was on a Friday shortly after Thanksgiving. You came home from work late in the afternoon and in a matter of an hour, managed to put some Christmas lights on the crabapple tree out front, then cut back, and chip and shred, three of the six ‘October Skies’ asters along the sidewalk.
When we met that day, you talked quite a bit about your grand plans for the garden, especially the vegetable garden.
I’m writing to remind you of those plans and the action items we listed for you to take this winter. Please take those actions now so that when we meet again in mid-March for the sowing of peas, you won’t be all whiny about not following through on those plans, or following through too late.
If you don’t take action, you’ll regret it, and I’ll be disappointed in you as well because we made such good progress in our therapy sessions in the garden last year.
Promise me you’ll make some calls?
The rotted boards around those raised beds in the vegetable garden aren’t going to magically un-rot over the winter. You know that. We’ve gone over that. If you want some help with replacing them, you need to call early so that you can get the help lined up before everyone gets busy.
I’ll check in on you in a few weeks to make sure you’ve made those calls and also find out how your seed catalog therapy is going. I assume you’ll need my help deciding which seeds to order. You always do. Plus, we can discuss that new crop you’ve decided to grow. It sounds intriguing!
In the meantime, please know my fees have not changed for this year and I’ll be available whenever you need me. Just start gardening, or thinking of plants, and I’ll be there.
Your therapist,
Dr. V. Q. Hortfreud, HD (Doctor of Hortotherapy)
The good doctor sounds more like a nagging mother than a doctor this time.
Does the Dr. have room in the schedule for me?!! I was giving my yard the 'once over' – at least from the comfort of the inside-side of the windows! (20 degrees is 20 degrees!)
Why does all this seem familiar? I keep telling myself "But it's been SNOWING!" as a defense for not really doing any of the things I had planned…
LOL. Hope you get your help lined up soon, don't want more nagging from your therapist…
Fees haven't changed…HA The good doctor give good advice, as always, dear Carol. It is therapy just to imagine that new raised veggie bed! I hope you will be making those calls soon. We can't wait to see the new crops. 🙂
Frances
Oh I need some of that "seed catalog therapy" myself! The catalogs are here, there's snow on the ground, the perfect day to browse through the catalogs while I have my coffee.
I can't buy too many things this year because I'm planning on using up my seed stash I accumulated when my eyes were bigger than my garden. But now that I have some acreage I've ordered some seed potatoes and of course my Candy onions that I grow every year. And some of those brightly colored carrots. I'm developing an herb garden and I need to buy some seed for certain herbs but otherwise I've got enough seed for a whale of a garden.
We'll see if I can stick to the plan.
I don't think I can afford Dr. Hortfreud's fees, which is just as well–I don't need anyone else to tell me I have a problem with procrastination:)
Through you Dr. Hortfreud helps us all. I WILL, I SHALL do my seed orders today – and continue shopping for good tree nurseries.
I hate to say it, but the good doctor is right. I don't know why winter always seems so long, yet I don't get around to ordering seeds and making plans until it's almost too late. I'll try to follow her advice this year.
(The word verification is "puppie.")
Hey Carol you need to give me the contact information of your therapist. We need to get in touch. Thanks for the reminder not to procrastinate. Happy garden planning!
Well if we lived closer I'd be there to help with those raised beds! Just how far from St. Louis are you??