Are You An Extreme Gardener?
My eyes are riveted to the television as a snowboarder speeds through a half pipe or launches from a ramp to perform gnarly, gravity-defying tricks. Or a person hurls himself off a cliff and soars into the beyond with arms and legs spread inside a wingsuit, personifying Batman. How in the world do you learn to do such extreme sports without killing yourself first?
Extreme gardening is much safer. In fact, one can argue that extreme gardening has many physical and emotional benefits. Nevertheless, some people may shake their heads and think that an extreme gardener is a bit strange, if not outright nuts.
How do you know you are an extreme gardener? I have compiled a list of ten traits that, while completely unverified and unscientific, may indicate you are an extreme gardener:
1.You garden, no matter what your environmental conditions or living arrangements. You find a way to garden, year round, in one form or another.
2. When people visit, they ask to see your garden. If they don't ask, you show them anyway.
3. People you don't know have come up to you and asked for gardening advice.
4. You own at least 50 gardening books, not counting garden magazines. No way you can count all those.
5. You have gardened at night under the floodlights around your house.
6. You arrange vacation time around gardening activities.
7. You know the botanical names for most of your plants.
8. You have attended a demonstration or lecture about hydroponics.
9. You publish a garden blog.
10. Gardening is your favorite form of physical therapy for such things as hip replacement, torn meniscus, and recovery from debilitating infection.
If you are positive for any of the above, chances are you are a real gardener. The more traits you have, the more serious you are about gardening. If you own up to six or more, you may indeed be an extreme gardener. I confess I am guilty of all ten. But at least I am not putting on a wingsuit and jumping off cliffs.
So, how extreme are you?
Wishing all you gardeners the very best! Deb