My circumstances may be different than yours, but I’m betting my gardening heart is similar. We miss our gardens when we can’t be with them.

My garden is in a field on the farm of a wonderful friend. Actually, he offered it as a place for me to garden in 2021. And, as he tells the story, he saw me one day talking to the flowers and looking, well, happy. He said he had never seen me happy like that.

It’s not that I’m an unhappy person. I love my life and my family, and am extremely grateful for all I’ve been able to experience.

But I am a serious person. There’s a photo of my younger sister and I when we were little that captures our personalities. She is jumping for joy without reservation. And I? Well, I am sitting on the curb digging in the dirt with a stick. Probably doing a math problem, or drawing, or solving a puzzle. Basically, I was thinking. And I tend not to smile when I’m thinking. (You don’t need to look closely to follow the trend in my photos of the furrowed brows. 😂)

So, I think what my friend really meant was that when I’m in the garden, I am relaxed. In fact, I’m actually breathing – and not holding my breath as is also habit of mine. And I am content. And enjoying life on the outside, not just in a compartmentalized place for me to experience when I’m done the “To Do List.”

My garden on my friend’s farm is a 25-minute drive from my house. So, when I’m feeling garden-withdrawal, I can’t just walk into my backyard and breathe in the scent of the flowers and the soil, and talk to the zucchini and earthworms.

But gardeners who DO have their garden in their backyard must still experience a similar withdrawal. There is work, careers, errands, laundry, cooking, family events, Little League, PTA volunteer commitments. O to mention the limitations of not only weather, but also of the time of sunrise and sunset.

This is one reason that I wrote The Gardener’s Spirit. It is a book that helps gardeners connect with their garden while they are away from it. When ridiculous things like work keep us from our beloved garden.

My love of being in my garden is what finally made me understand the “I’d rather be fishing” bumper stickers. It means, I’m here on this road driving this truck to work, but my heart is somewhere else.

So, what do you do when you miss your garden? Do you have any tips or tricks for how you reconnect with your “garden happiness” when you are away from your garden?

P.S. This is BORAGE. This is the very first year that I have ever grown borage, and I grew it from seed. (Thank you HudsonValleySeed.com!)

It got HUGE! I have nicknamed it the alien-from-outer space plant because it is just so unique and looks like it just walked out of a spaceship.