A green thumb

I like plants, I really do; however, I am just not very good at taking care of them. Over the years, I have tried various tactics, and now, I think I have a decent handle on them.

I have a lemon tree, a baby prayer plant and a medium-sized garden under my care. I would love to have multiple houseplants, a beautiful flower garden and an abundant vegetable garden, but they are all a work in progress.

For about 10 years, I have had a lemon tree. I bought it as a seedling from a nursery a couple years after spending the summer in California with my aunt and uncle, who had a lemon tree in their yard. We would routinely pick the lemons off it to make lemon meringue pie, lemonade and use it in cooking. I am used to cooking with fresh ingredients with growing up on the farm and having a garden, but not with lemons, so it inspired me to start growing lemons. This lemon tree has moved with me twice, and I diligently brought it outside in the summer and inside in the fall and winter. We do not have a good south-facing window in our house, so it did not get the needed sunshine, prompting me to bring it to my office in Sauk Centre. After being in the office for a full two years, it has finally produced lemons. It takes nearly a year for lemons to fully mature, and I am the proud owner of three lemons from my tree. The boost in confidence is great in addition to the delicious treats I am going to make with the lemons.

I was recently gifted a prayer plant, and I was so touched by this, as I am a sentimental person. I am following the care instructions to a T to let this little plant thrive, as it serves as a reminder to enjoy the little things in life.

Ever since I got married and moved to our farm, I have tried to have a garden. Last year was the first year I had enough produce to process and store for the winter, besides tomatoes. We still have some carrots in our freezer and the other produce lasted several months into the winter before it ran out. In years prior, the rabbits would come in and eat most of my garden, and one year, I forgot to mark my rows, so it was hard to weed it properly and the weeds took over.

Growing up, my mom had a huge garden, and every spring, I would help plant the seeds, weed it in the summer, and harvest the produce in the summer and fall. I thought I knew what to do, but until last year, my garden has yielded pretty minimal produce.

I have learned a lot about gardening in the last couple of years and actually feel confident going into the summer that the seeds I planted will do alright. As I was weeding and watering it last week, I was thinking that gardening is like a lot of things in life. The more time, care and dedication we put into it, the more we will get out of it. Even if it is something we have been doing for a long time, there is always something new to learn.

Gardening, farming and raising a family are all similar in that aspect — although raising kids is like raising the same crop for 20 years instead of one. They still require a lot of time, care and dedication; and the more effort put into them, the stronger they will be.