saying goodbye.

It seems that whenever I move away from somewhere I have lived, I need to spend quite a bit of time in the garden to say goodbye.
Leaving my gardens have always been the hardest part of my shifts.
Today - the perfect autumn day - was my day to farewell my garden.
I pottered about, trimming, pulling, digging, sowing, planting and carrying.
Given the time of year it is, there was a fair bit of hacking as well.
The soil is in superb condition and it felt good leaving the garden in better shape than when we arrived.

I've also learnt that I need to pot of few bits up to take with me.
I just can't leave my gardens empty handed.
Cuttings I have struck, herbs that needed dividing, some baby strawberry plants and a few divided perennials all got crammed into the back of the car.

I expect I will especially need these plants this winter.
The earthquake and it's long-term effects on people's daily life continues to unfold.
Having a patch of earth to tend in the midst of the dark, cold weeks will be just the tonic to remind me that Spring will indeed return.

3 comments:

  1. I think leaving gardens that have been tended, loved, and so much "together" time spent in them is definitely a hard thing to do. A great idea taking a little piece of that with you. One gardening friend always takes some of her forget-me-nots with her to all her houses (they originally came from her nana's garden from long ago).

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  2. Thanks for your kind comments on my blogs! I love your blog, which makes me feel nostalgic and bit sad for the homeschooling life we've (like Nikki!) recently left behind!

    I love that idea of little bits of different gardens getting mixed and swapped around as people move from place to place.

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  3. It can be a tricky road to travel this no school thing and the children's and adult's needs shift. I hope the school thing is working well for your family. BTW, I used to live in Carterton many moons ago. I have a special love for the Wairarapa from this time. The Tararuas are astounding.

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