{"id":3336,"date":"2021-03-08T06:29:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T14:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=3336"},"modified":"2021-03-08T06:29:03","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T14:29:03","slug":"gardening-in-tune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/gardening-in-tune\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardening in Tune"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aconite<\/a>I know lots of people who make great use of either noise blocking headphones or devices that feed music, books or other forms of audio input directly into their brains via earbuds.\u00a0 There are many benefits to both\u2014from blocking out all the extraneous noises that the modern world generates, to, in the case of audio content, soothing and\/or enriching our fevered brains.<\/p>\n

Some people wear their earbuds in the garden, and if it enriches the gardening experience, I won\u2019t criticize.\u00a0 Being outside is always better for health and wellbeing than camping out indoors in front of a computer screen.<\/p>\n

For my money, though, I would rather be device-free in the garden, and \u201cdevice free\u201d definitely includes my cell phone.\u00a0 I like to feel at one with my surroundings\u2014even if the only thing nearby is the compost pile.<\/p>\n

The natural world is full of sensory experiences\u2014sights, sounds, smells, tactile sensations and vibrations.\u00a0 Eighteenth century composer Antonio Vivaldi understood that, and his understanding led to the \u201cPrimavera\u201d or \u201cSpring\u201d movement of \u201cThe Four Seasons\u201d concerto, which conveys all the spring sensations in a joyous musical outpouring.\u00a0 When my soul feels parched in the depths of winter, I sometimes turn to \u201cSpring\u201d for refreshment.<\/p>\n

Right now I am waiting for the arrival of real spring, which means the smell of the mud.\u00a0 You can usually perceive that fresh, earthy odor as the ground warms up, but before it is ready for planting.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t last all that long, but generally is strongest around the time that the early crocuses appear.\u00a0 \u00a0Several weeks after the smell of the mud becomes noticeable, I get down on my knees and grab a handful of soil.\u00a0 Good garden soil is ready for planting when it has a texture reminiscent of chocolate cake and feels warm enough to hold comfortably in your hand.<\/p>\n

In the early spring, if you stop for a moment, you can hear the garden humming all around you.\u00a0 After all, a million things\u2014plants, insects, animals and birds\u2014are going into high gear, shooting up from the earth, emerging from hibernation or returning from southern winter vacations.\u00a0 Even the cardinals that stayed through the winter amp up their singing as the mating ritual commences.\u00a0 With luck I might spot a mourning cloak butterfly emerging from whatever protected space it inhabited during the cold months.\u00a0 If I were distracted by the stimuli coming in through earbuds, I would miss most of that.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t really understand the stillness of winter until you experience the uproar of spring.<\/p>\n

Every year as I plan for the growing season, I need to rediscover my little piece of land.\u00a0 Taking a tour of the property every few days gives me new perspective.\u00a0 I feel the high, low, dry and squishy areas through the soles of my garden clogs.\u00a0 I notice the buds on the shrubs and take in the wreckage left behind by winter storms.\u00a0\u00a0 No matter what the extent of that wreckage, the garden tour feeds inspiration and imagination.\u00a0 Of course it also depletes my pocketbook, because it often moves me to order plants and supplies.\u00a0 On balance though, the inspiration outweighs the damage to my credit card balance.<\/p>\n

Spring is high time for the garden sensory experience, but it continues through the rest of the growing season.\u00a0 In high summer, my garden smells of honey and a combination of the various plants\u2019 essential oils as they are teased out by the sun\u2019s warmth.\u00a0\u00a0 All of those scents mingle harmoniously with the sweet fragrance of freshly mown grass.\u00a0 I wish those scents were not regularly overpowered by that of the gas powered equipment that cuts the grass, but I can\u2019t really begrudge my neighbors the convenience of their lawn services.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I hear parents complain that they can\u2019t get their screen-addicted children out of the house.\u00a0 This is a societal and generational issue, but children model behavior after their parents\u2014not always immediately, but eventually.\u00a0 If the adults in a household make a habit of tuning in to the natural world, children are more likely to do so.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Trout<\/a>
Trout lily<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is a little embarrassing to talk to your plants, though I confess to doing so occasionally.\u00a0 It is less embarrassing to listen to them.\u00a0 I recommend it as we move headlong into spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know lots of people who make great use of either noise blocking headphones or devices that feed music, books or other forms of audio input directly into their brains via earbuds.\u00a0 There are many benefits to both\u2014from blocking out all the extraneous noises that the modern world generates, to, in the case of audio … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2469,2470,1557,2468,2467,2466,761],"class_list":["post-3336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brain-break","tag-device-free","tag-nature-study","tag-seasonal-changes","tag-sensory-garden","tag-spring","tag-spring-plants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3336"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3337,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3336\/revisions\/3337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}