Today being the last day of March means there are now only two days remaining till we celebrate the 1st ever International Greenfingers Day (Gardeners in their Garden Day).
It will be a day for celebrating gardeners in their gardens, everywhere; in every town and county of every country and continent. Gardeners are those who toil tirelessly at greening our world and filling our lives with seasonal colour, and though there are many great gardening shows and festivals celebrated across the globe each year, there was no one day set aside to acknowledge and celebrate those who actually work throughout the year at providing the splendour we all admire.
It’s not meant to be a day for big token displays. Here in the northern hemisphere it is being celebrated right at the beginning of things, while gardeners are busy with the day to day hands-on of spring sowing, and as such won’t mind getting hands dirty.
In southern climes it is falling at harvest, a time to perhaps to reflect on the garden’s bounty and also on what has been achieved in the last year, but here also some bulbs for next year’s blooms can be planted simply to mark the occasion of the day.
What is suggested is that all gardeners everywhere sow and/or plant some small token of trust in nature on this day, the first Saturday of April each year ( this year being Saturday 2nd April 2016) except when that day falls on April 1st, and then it will be celebrated on the 2nd Saturday of that year and on all such years when April 1st happens on a Saturday .
Perhaps you could buy yourself, or the gardener in your life a small packet of seed to sow on the day; then take a picture, a sowing selfie so to speak, and when nature has played her part and your hope blooms and the promise is fit to harvest in a number of months, take another picture, for posterity if nothing else.
It’s not a day for extravagant power tools and sit-on gifts. It’s not a day for new sheds, new BBQ’s and outdoor summer furniture settings. It’s a day to be marked by some form of sowing and planting on a personal scale: a day to plant a rose bush, or a potted fruit bush; a day to sow some summer salad leaves; a day for beetroot and summer turnip seeds, for cosmos and zinnia seeds, for sunflower and cornflower seeds, a day to sow some seed in the trust that nature will play her part so long as you play yours; a day to buy a small gift of seed to yourself or for someone else and perhaps help get them to grow their own; a day to celebrate all that gardeners do best in their gardens…
If you wish post a comment here on monster in the corner, or a copy of a picture so we may all share in your effort on instagram #internationalgreenfingersday
It is but the seed of an idea,..
Monster In The Corner... 