I started my first cutting garden last summer, and with the help of my husband, we dove in and took the initial steps of creating an area, adding fresh compost, putting up a small fence, and then the best part for me, seed shopping and planting. It was a good first attempt at creating one. We both enjoyed it, and I learned a lot from it. I enlarged this year’s cutting garden from 13 feet x 9’ feet to 22 feet x 12 feet as I wanted to create paths in between the flowers and give them more space to grow.

Every day is a new experience learning that each flower needs its own time to grow and become the bloom it was meant to be, which is just one more reason why this experience is worth every part of the effort, and one that truly nurtures me more than I nurture it.

So with my new selection of seeds all organized and planned out, I was ready to start. I had my knife in hand, and I carefully opened each seed packet along the top edge.

As I slowly poured them into my hand, I became very aware of their tenderness and how each was unique, delicate and vulnerable. And as I held them, I paused and thought about how these simple, tiny seeds that I would plant would spend the next couple of months in the soil germinating, budding and blooming into something brilliant, elegant and distinct.

After planting comes the waiting and last year it seemed to take forever for the seeds to germinate. As I waited, I worried that I didn’t water them enough or too much, or that the dirt wasn’t just right, but at last, the first ones started to appear and I was able to breathe again. This year was quite different because within five days many of the seeds had already become seedlings, and I was delightfully surprised.

Please share with me your own experience of creating a cutting garden. And if haven’t had one, what would you dream of growing and cutting just for you?

Flower at the top of the post: Borage

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