Diary of My Country Life-August 21st, 2026

The original source of this blog: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/blogs/diary-of-my-country-life

08/21/2026 Friday 64-81F Sunny 

It rained heavily last evening, much more than I had expected. I just sowed celery seeds hours ago; I am really worried that the rain will wash the seeds away. 

I sowed celeries twice in spring, neither was successful. So this time I tried to sow them in autumn, hopefully the germination rate could be better.  

Among all the vegetables  I have planted so far, celery seems like the most difficult one. I don’t know whether it’s my soil issue, or the climate, or perhaps I am not that skillful, every time only very few seeds germinated, then died prematurely. However, I love celery; because of my perpetual love, I am motivated to try it over and over again. I remember reading it somewhere saying that if a person can plant good celery in his garden, he is definitely qualified to be a good gardener. Well, good luck to me. 

This morning I checked my vegetable bed. The area where I sowed the seeds looked fine to me, but my tomatoes were so beaten by the rain. The bamboo poles, which I used to support the tomato plants, tilted towards all directions. Bamboo was quite strong; the problem was that my soil is rocky several inches beneath the surface so I couldn’t pierce the bamboo poles deeper to make them stable. It took me some time to reinforce the poles by connecting them together to form a trellis like structure. It should be stronger now, but still not ideal. My tomatoes are growing very well this year; I plan to make as much tomato sauce as possible so I can save some for winter. Obviously, my old staking system has become out of date. For now, I will put up with it; going forward, a tailored trellis needs to be well designed before spring comes back. 

You may think there’s still a long time to go. Actually, there isn’t. Autumn is here now; two months later will be the long, bitter winter. But if I rewind, the day when I planted my first tomato plant was just like yesterday. Then date back to more than twenty years ago when I was in college, my friends always said to me: “Ting (my Chinese name), I can visualize what your life will be in the future: You will plant a lot of flowers and will be surrounded with many beautiful things.” 

I don’t know why they all said so; at that time, I felt even slightly annoyed because I believed that I would be a working woman; my ambition was bigger than those “good for nothing” flowers. Now after twenty years, bumpy and unknowingly, gardening has become part of my life; and every day I deal with nothing but all the beauties created by my hands. 

Looking back, four years’ gardening isn’t that long, but long enough to make me start understanding the plants, and to teach me something valuable. The first thing I have learned is to be patient. People often say, “The third time is a charm”. In fact, it also applies to gardening. My epiphyllum bloomed its first flower after twenty-six months’ growth from a single leaf; my Yellow Yao tree peony showcased the first flush of flowers in its third spring in my garden...The third year is a charm. Like plants—in the first year they focus on growing roots, the second year growing leaves, the third year growing flowers—everything, everybody needs time to mature. If you really love something, pursue it for at least three years; then if you are not sure whether this love is worthy or not, you should continue pursuing it for another three years. Afterward, you shall have all the answers. 

The second lesson is that don’t bend nature’s will. Citrus trees love warm, humid climate, so they won’t grow that well in the north; cyclamen likes to be in shady, cooler locations, planting it opposite will lead to no flowers or even death; daphne hates summer heat while jasmine embraces it... If a plant is planted in its favored climate, location, and is maintained properly, for sure it will grow into a very happy plant, and everybody can tell it. If we do things against nature’s will (Mother Nature, human nature and our own nature), we will be hard pressed to find real success and happiness. 

The third lesson is: No matter how frustrated you are now, always plan for the future, and forever keep the belief in your mind. We all make mistakes; actually, we grow from our mistakes. The more mistakes we make, the bigger chances we can learn from them (if you really learn). Sometimes we make the same, or similar mistakes more than once. But it doesn’t mean we should give up; we should avoid it and find easier ways to go. Self-doubting is ok, even necessary—it can prevent us from being arrogant and ignorant. Self-doubting isn’t the same as self-denial; it’s an introspecting then learning procedure, like a butterfly struggles in its pupa. But you must believe that one day you will fly out with your splendid wings to rejoice your freedom. Thus, we shake off all the frustrations, the dark side of life, then make plans for the future, take actions for the best of all possible results.   

How many plants did I kill in the past four years, no matter whether guiltily or innocently? Perhaps hundreds, if I include every single bulb. But almost every week now, and it will continue to be like that, I dig here or there in my garden. The plants I planted, I loved, I wish they can live a one-hundred years’ life or even more, though the remainder of my life will be much shorter.  

Just think about that: Even after many changes of the house owners, after many years of our death, someone, mostly like a stranger, one day sitting under a tree, appreciates the shade the tree offers and the person who planted it. For all the conveniences, all the joys, all the beauties, therefore all the pains and sufferings are worthwhile.  

Of course we do things not only for the future, not to impress ourselves nor others. We do it because we love it, because we believe in it, because we enjoy the ride as well.