Garden Flags - Proud Reminders of an Ageless Hobby

"When I go into my garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health," observed Ralph Waldo Emerson. Indeed, gardening is one of those human pursuits whose popularity is constant through the generations. This need to garden explains the addiction some people have to decorating their gardens, labeling the rows of different seeds with garden flags, and designing a garden plot to suit one’s interests. Like one’s property, a spot of land of one’s own brings satisfaction.

One who kneels down to plant seeds is performing an ageless activity that no technology or mechanization can improve. Vegetable gardening, gardening with children, and rotating flowering plants are rewarding outdoor activities with tangible results.

Gardening for the Soul

For that matter, to quote William Cowper (1731-1800), “[He] who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.” You do not always need to be outdoors to reap the benefits of gardening. Although helpful, greenhouse equipment and greenhouse kits are not always necessary for a productive greenhouse. All you need are plants, sunlight, and space, and your body and mind will respond the presence of growth and garden greenery.

Keeping in mind different world philosophies, gardening can be approached from any number of angles, even an existential one. Jean-Paul Sartre saw it this way: “You take souls for vegetables.... The gardener can decide what will become of his carrots but no one can choose the good of others for them.” Although many factors that make a successful garden are beyond our planning, gardening is one way to exert control over the environment. With gardening, we have at least a reasonable chance, through trial and error, of charting our own course (at least in the backyard). Gardening certainly beats sitting at a computer all day (now get out there!)

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