03/28/2026
Carol Naveta's Blog, Issue #2 (photo april 2024)
We're two thirds through March. Shouldn't it be a lilttle bit Spring Like? I have a framed print in my house cut out of a gardening book. It says . . .In order to go from Spring to Summer, you have to go through March”.
Rodney, my handyman, and fellow artist here at the galleries told me, the old people used to say . . . .”March is the starving month”.
Every day I look for green shoots of daffodils, crocuses, swelling buds, and yes, there are a few things showing that give me hope . . one is with the snow, momentarily gone the grass is greenish thanks to all that snow keeping it cozy all winter . . ... And, as my mother who was from PEI, used to say . . .“snow in spring is a poor man's fertilizer”. That's a cheery thought.
My husband and I immigrated to NS in 1987. We had a horse farm in New Hampshire, and I had gardens. But guess what? . . . The land and climate here in Nova Scotia is MUCH better for growing things than we had in NH where the top soil was 2” deep and grass for our feeding horses lasted just a few months before turning brown and crisp.
During the 20+ years I raised horses here in Antigonish County, NS, I also ran a Vacation program called – Nova Scotia Beginner Driving
Vacations where we taught people from the States, Canada, and Europe to drive horses put to carriages. Our guests constantly remarked with amazement how Big and Healthy our plants were. Gardens got an earlier start in the U.S.,but for reasons of climate and deep, fertile soil, our gardens here in Antigonish grew better and lasted longer. --- I will never forget running a horse business
in New England where the hoses and water buckets froze in October. Not here where Autumn is a mildish, gentle season . . . mostly.
So, as I said above, I've decided to share my Cottage Garden exprience with interested people, those new to gardening and those with a little or a lot of experience. We can all, always learn something new.
I LOVE messing about in the gardens. It keeps me strong and healthy and feeds my soul. I'm now 85 and can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this gardening season. Last fall, my pal and fellow artist, Rodney Tate, and I created 5 new gardens which I'll be filling with hydrangeas, roses, perennials, and some vegetables. -- I do prefer flowers, but also grow veggies for health, not necessarily thrift . . . although, that too.
As I do each fall, last year I ordered a lot of tulips, daffodils, and other spring bulbs, and soon will be enjoying the results. And during the depths of this past endless winter, I spent weeks deciding which rose I should order for the new gardens we created last fall, and the ones we'll be starting this spring. ---
Twenty rose bushes arriving in May. If you're not yet a gardener, I can give you a lot of reasons why you should be If you're not yet a gardener, I can give you a lot of reasons why you should be. -
Exercise, Enjoyment, fresh air, accomplishment to name only a few. .
