Sunday, March 22, 2009

Do What You Love

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling.
~Mirabel Osler

I love the beginning of Spring when it's warm enough to get my fingers in the soil, to cut away the old, and plant the new. I am a gardener. I lose myself in the work, in the planning, preparing, planting, and harvesting of my little plot of ground. My husband says "If there's a empty piece of earth, Janet will find a way to plant something." It is my passion.

Too many of us neglect our passions. We spend too much time trying to please others, to do as they say, as they desire for our lives.

Most of us are not encouraged to seek our passion. We are taught to go the safe route, to blend in with the norm, and to forget ourselves.

My life was like that. I choose a major in school to please others. I got a job, found a niche, and have worked in my present occupation for the last twenty years. But it's not my passion.

My advice to the young - Do what you love. Only you can determine which path to follow. Do you follow the one others have set for you, or do you follow your passion? They say: Do something you love, and the money will come. Or do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life.

My advice to the elder - You can always change your occupation, and do what you love. Go part time to school or start your business small, working part time at it until it can support you financially at a level in which you are accustomed. But never, ever, think you are too old to grab a hold of that dream and fly!

Someday, hopefully soon, my dream to have a working garden will happen and I will be smiling. I just wish I figured this out sooner, but, for now, I pour through gardening books, work with the soil, and learn as much as I can about my love.

Gardening

Perennials multiply. Some quicker than others. As I clear my flower beds, and vegetable garden, I see what needs to be thinned and transplanted. I need to break up my irises, hostas, and day lilies. I need to pull up the candy mint that took over the strawberry patch. The strawberries have grown beyond their imaginary boundaries. I need to dig up horseradish before it takes over, or my husband hits it with the rototiller (if we get ours fixed).

Spring is a time for sharing, for giving of one's garden to another. By doing this, if my plants die, I will always find these plants in someone else's garden, ready to be given back to me. So, I will ask "Who wants strawberries, horseradish, candy mint, or any of my other perennials that have taken over?"

Money Making Tip

Another way to share is to sell your plants at a garage sale, or, if you have an overabundance of many plants, advertise in the classifieds or have a plant sale.

Recipe

Aunt Janet's Stew

1 lb. stew meat, cut in bite size pieces
5 potatoes, cubed
3 celery stalks, sliced
4 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
1 garlic clove, minced
16 oz. can of tomatoes, undrained and chopped
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 Tbs. of Italian Seasoning, or 1-1/2 tsp. basil and 1-1/2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. pepper

Put all the above in crock pot, and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 5-6 hours.

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