By Beth Keil
For the first time ever I sat down and planned out our vegetable garden. Before anything was planted we added about 10 tons (that’s not a typo) of mushroom soil which led to my husband doubling the size of the plot to accommodate all the extra soil. By chance we planted everything at the beginning of May, a few days before we had 8 straight days of rain: tomatoes, radishes, carrots, peppers, melons, collards, cucumbers and zucchini.
We still have wild radishes from a crop we planted over 10 years ago, which we unintentionally let go to seed. Every weekend I spend an hour or two on weeding the garden and I’m amazed at how many new radishes seedlings I see each and every week. These radishes are just greens with a root and no vegetable. These radishes seeded themselves as we didn’t take/have/make the time to pick them when they were ripe. Of course we had no idea then that 10 years later they’d still be with us, needing more attention than ever. Having a vegetable garden requires consistent attention—picking things before they go to seed or blossom (like broccoli), checking for pests or disease and addressing it before problems spread, and remembering to fertilize.
Since the economic downturn, more people are gardening. Many are novice gardeners. The first garden I ever had was back in high school. We lived in an apartment with a catwalk outside my bedroom window. I bought 2,000 pounds of soil, got wooden crates from the grocery store, covered the slats with the backings from the hamburger meat my mom bought and used bubble gum to plug the holes. I was horrified when my cucumbers had white prickles on them! I’d only seen cukes in the grocery store. A knowing friend told me that’s what fresh ones look like. My broccoli blossomed and the only ear of corn was 2 inches long. The tomatoes grew wonderfully and were more flavorful than any I’d ever tasted and I learned how to make relish. It was many years later that I started gardening again and then it was in a garden plot.
Gardening brings one into the rhythm of Nature. You have to be aware of when it rains or doesn’t. Butterflies are cute but the caterpillar they come from may eat your crops. You need to know what vegetables are cool or hot weather plants so you plant them accordingly. The beginnings of the summer heat will cause lettuce to bolt (grow fast and flower) and tomatoes to grow. Summer really does begin the end of June here in Zone 7 where I live. For the uninitiated, there’s a map that lets you know what the temperature ranges are in your area and what you can or can not grow well. The map is in zones.
So, you may be wondering, what’s the connection between gardening and hypnosis, after all this is a hypnosis online magazine? Glad you asked.
Hypnosis focuses on the subconscious mind (SCM). The SCM is like this vast garden of what’s been planted throughout our lifetime. What’s nourished grows. Things seed themselves and can keep going year after year after year (think radishes). We have weeds—things that don’t provide us with what we need, want or desire. I liken the process of hypnosis I practice, 5PATH®, to weeding out what’s not working in our lives: thoughts or habits that limit success and well being. As with the seasons, hypnosis provides us with the opportunity to change, to cultivate that which brings us joy and love.
