|
Less
than two weeks into autumn now… Dry crispy air and not enough rain to
supply the state’s farmers with the resources needed to feed their
livestock, water their fields or fill their ponds.
Trees
are dying on the edges of forests. Not because of this year’s drought,
but because of the droughts of years past and poor water management of
landowners and public utilities.
Cattle
were sold at low prices way before they reached marketable weight because
the farmers couldn’t feed them. It takes rain to make hay grow! I lost
two nice ornamental trees to the drought this year. One was a Eucalyptus
and the other was a Japanese maple.
It
isn’t just the dry weather that has made me notice life under the
microscope. It’s also a feeling of unrest brought on by a trend I see in
work ethics and some other things I have vowed to not discuss with anyone
in a public forum. I just sit back and think of them all by myself. I see
people bickering over things that have a seemingly simple solution.
Sometimes it’s like people are complaining just because they are used to
it.
This
time of year I usually have some fall hanging baskets growing in the
greenhouses, perennials in gallon pots and woody ornamental cuttings
rooting under mist. I haven’t done that this year. Though there’s a
need for these plants, I don’t want to waste the water… Or maybe, I’m
just using that as an excuse to sit and complain… I guess I’ll have to
think about that one all by myself too.
I
think today I’m just tired and bitter. All of those people who don’t
have a vision beyond having babies, family reunions and securing those
cemetery plots just annoy me today! I guess it is ok for them though. If
it weren’t for people having babies, Mother Nature wouldn’t have
anything to use to fight off those new viruses that come every year
through evolution.
Maybe
I just need an adventure. I haven’t taken a non-working vacation since
1997. Perhaps I should just load up Puff, the cat, and head down to Nuevo
Laredo or beyond for the winter. Study plant life in the warm and humid
jungles of Guatemala or something.
You
see? It’s lonely this time of year for a nurseryman.
But
wait! If I don’t get out there and clean up the greenhouses and cold
frames, I won’t have a place to put in the flowers that smell so good in
the greenhouses in winter. I won’t have a place to sit on a winter’s
afternoon where I can see green and smell the upcoming spring.
Oh,
well. I guess I’ll have to wait on my adventure. Those warm Mexican
jungles will just have to wait on me. The nursery needs my attention, so I
guess I’ll get to work. I guess I’ll…just do it all over again this
year and probably again next year too.
It’s
October…Go buy a pumpkin from a local farmer.
If
your local radio station isn’t carrying the gardening radio show Home
Grown Tomatoes yet, call them and request it!
|
