CREATIVITY | GARDENING | GROWING FOOD | SUSTAINABILITY

Building a Garden Is Its Own Creative Process

And it inspires more creativity in me

One month after planting some seeds, we can already see the results. The tall plants flanking the sides are asparagus ferns. Photo Credit: Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages

At the beginning of May, I shared a photograph of my garden in my article Sharing Food From My Garden. Back then it was just a brown patch with a few rows in it, but today, I’m proud to say that it is growing in and the beauty is really starting to show through.

We jumped the gun a little bit with our planting schedule. Usually, we Canadians don’t start seeds in the garden until the third weekend in May because the threat of frost can linger until then. But we decided to get a jump on the season and risk it. In the beginning, we planted things that are a little more hearty and can tolerate the cold better than others. Our risk paid off and we are now enjoying watching our tiny little vegetable plants pop up out of the ground while others are just getting around to putting their seeds in the soil.

Sadly, with this busy time of planting things, my art practice has taken a hit. Between my farm chores, cutting our immense lawn (as per our lease agreement) and planting the garden, there are few hours left in the day to get to doing art.

But I see my garden as just another extension of my creativity. Deciding what to…