Secret in the Garden

But she was inside the wonderful garden, and she could come through the door under the ivy any time, and she felt as if she had found a world all her own.

from The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett

It’s spring…well almost, and even though it doesn’t feel like it at the moment, it’s time to think about planting gardens or, in my case, prepping the planter boxes on my balcony and browsing online at Greenhouse Select for handy stuff that will help plants grow.

I never know what children’s titles I have on hand in my own personal library because I’m constantly giving them away to nieces, nephews and the children of friends for birthdays as they grow into the books on my shelves. I have given away five copies of Tuck Everlasting, three of Playing Beattie Bow, three of King of the Wind and seven of Charlotte’s Web. But my favorite children’s novel of all time has to be The Secret Garden and I’ve given so many copies of it away, I have lost count. Preparing to write about greenhouses and tying it somehow to this wonderful book, I checked my bookshelves first, to save myself a trip to the library or bookstore. So imagine my surprise when I found I actually still owned my own copy of this much-loved novel.

I planned to just flip through the book for some ideas. But the beautiful words drew me into the seamlessly unfolding story of an orphaned girl journeying from her parents’ home in India to her uncle’s house on the Yorkshire moors. It is a typical coming of age novel with a bit of a twist and since Mary, the main character in the story, learns how to garden, some self-empowerment thrown in for good measure. Add a mysterious, walled garden that is locked and no one has entered for ten years, and you’ve got yourself one timeless tale that sets the imagination on fire.

Upon reading it for the first time all those years ago, that is exactly what this children’s novel did for me – it set my imagination on fire. It didn’t matter that our city backyard in no way compared to the acreage attached to an English country mansion, but that wasn’t a problem for me. My father had turned the abandoned garage on our property into a gardening shed and there was a corner of it that was “walled” in by the trees and shrubs growing in that part of the yard. When first I was called and then searched for, my mother or father would discover that I had virtually vanished. I hadn’t really; I had simply stumbled upon a secret world of my own and found it amusing to stay hidden while they looked for me.

I “borrowed” seeds I found in the shed and planted them in my secret little bit of earth. Unlike Mary, however, in her walled-in garden, nothing grew in the plant bed I had stealthily attempted to create in my hide-away. Of course, now I know the reason that nothing grew was probably due to the fact that the area was too shaded or the seeds that I had stolen were simply old. The story might have turned out differently if I had the Solexx Lit'l Propagator Twin Walled Greenhouse to putter around in.

If you’re looking for a parent/child activity that both you and your daughter or son can enjoy together, consider creating your own “secret” garden. Perhaps it’s not just flowers your child will plant.

Green Thumbs Nearly Soiled

With spring not so far off, those of you who wish to grow your own vegetables and fruits this year may wish to make a visit to www.greenhouseselect.com. You’ll be pleased to learn that you don’t need to make a permanent commitment of a large portion of your yard to add a greenhouse to your horticultural arsenal. Truth be told, you don’t necessarily need a yard at all.

A friend of mine takes pride in the tomatoes and squashes he grows himself each year. In the early years, his father let him use what little space remained in his large and weather-worn greenhouse in a very rural part of the western south island. More than a few panes on the old structure were covered with cellophane sheeting secured with duct tape. (Red Greene would have been proud – duct tape was similarly instrumental in securing the corner posts of the rickety trough tables)

Eventually he became more ambitious and wished to expand his yield, but the expanse of his pops’ botanical ventures meant there wasn’t enough available space in the greenhouse. He resolved that with a little more diligence and care the crops could be grown out doors. It seemed to go fairly well the first year, with the only problem being the local deer and rabbit community found the vegetables as appealing as we did.

The year following, his solution to the annoyance almost fooled me in a bad way.

I tagged along for the day with the promise that if I helped him with some tending, he’d help me lug my scuba gear down into the Jordan River valley. I wanted to pan for gold in the bottom of a deep and dark eddy pool I’d scouted. (Unsuccessfully, but I did make the rather macabre discovery of an almost fully-intact dog skeleton down there)

My hands became so muddy that I had difficulty tying the twist ties to the retainer sticks. I reached down to rinse my fingers in one of the cans of “water” that were set about the base of the grow area when my friend stopped my progress with an anxious bark...

Apparently the odor of human urine repels wildlife from crops.

Nowadays we’re both city slickers, but he still caters to his green thumb on his condo balcony. His Jewett-Cameron Early Start Corner Greenhouse Unit goes to show how reaping the rewards of greenhouse technology is not exclusive for those with a large backyard and the freedom to have a permanent structure.

Those who have a patio attached to a ground floor unit would be able to intensify the sun’s generative power without taking up too much space with a Jewett-Cameron 4’ x 8’ Weatherguard Greenhouse. Folks who have the small square backyards that typically accompany a townhouse or similar small single-family dwelling could put any of the larger Jewett-Cameron 6’ x 8’, 8’ x 8’ or 6’ x 12’ Weatherguard Greenhouses to use and likely still have place for a swing set or bird bath.

These greenhouses are easily assembled within two hours, and can be disassembled just as easily for the winter months if you’re so inclined. They’re designed to stand up to most of what Mother Nature can dish out, and you won’t need to resort to disturbing means of wildlife repulsion to yield a full harvest.

Underworld Blues

It was a moment of weakness; nothing more, nothing less. Pomegranate seeds had always been irresistible to her, and no doubt that sly Hades had come to understand as much. Sure, it might not have even come to this had those two nymphs intervened in the first place, but Persephone had no one to blame but herself for caving in and so dooming her world to four months of cold and barren days each year.

So this October faded away just as it did the year previous, “P” packed her bags and said her goodbyes to Mom and Dad. Mom was still bitter about the whole thing and both of them couldn’t understand why Dad didn’t pull one of his innumerable strings to override the whole arrangement. In fairness though, old Zeus was a little pre-occupied with his job these days. He was in damage control mode with his PR staff after one of his minister’s irresponsible sons had died in a foolish flying stunt, and was facing increasing lobby pressure to better compensate Atlas for carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

All in all, the time at Hades’ place wasn’t so bad as they both had come to accept certain inevitabilities regarding the deal. She was resigned to the cosmic pre-ordainment of it all, while he had for the most part grudgingly accepted the fact there was no nookie to be had and that sleeping arrangements were not up for discussion. Besides, she thought, I never see the guy as he’s always rehearsing with his band or playing drunken pranks on some of the more dim-witted fallen ones that loiter outside the fence.

P stopped by the corner store to pick up a long-distance card, plunked her bags down on the corner and slumped up against a telephone pole waiting for Hades to roll up in his jet-black ’68 Firebird fast-back. As usual, some of the citizenry approached to complain heartily about having potatoes make up the entirety of their crop until late March.

A thought came to her while they were rolling along a desolate highway into the underworld – she had recently come across www.greenhouseselect.com and became aware of the large and competitively-priced selection of greenhouses offered to consumers with the convenient appeal of online shopping. Pops had given P her own Platinum Visa and she was sure he signed off on it each year as “federal expenditure” or something like that. You know how political big-wigs can be.

As soon as they arrived, she rolled her eyes tiredly when Hades yet again suggested they “play” Twister. “When is this guy not formulating ulterior motives,” she thought to herself. She made her way to the computer and eagerly flew into GreenhouseSelect. After adding a large quantity of differing varieties of greenhouses to her “cart,” she phoned Cymax’s toll-free customer service line at 1-866-740-9830 to request special arrangements for delivery to the suffering people of her world. She clicked the last icon box and proceeded to revel in her wisdom and good Samaritan-ness.

Needless to say, the greenhouses were a huge hit. The people were thrilled to grow more of the fruits and vegetables that before would never have been possible with the morning frost and sunken temperatures that accompanied P’s absence every year. Her inbox overflowed with expressions of gratitude and more invites to social gatherings upon her return than she could possibly attend.

She sighed almost disparagingly and shook her head slowly as the smooth Motown baritone of Barry White emanated from the romantically candle-lit living room down the hallway.

A for effort, though, Hades.