Naked, Except for a Spider

Getting Heirloom Herbs and Giving Free Plants

“No one wants to see you naked, except for a spider!” my soon-to-be four year old loudly told me this morning, while I was getting dressed.  I laughed.  Thankfully I’ve been feeling pretty good about my body in the three months since my lung surgery for thoracic endometriosis.  I’m getting healthier and feeling stronger.  I can do so much more. The day before I had been gardening (not naked), and found myself moving antique granite cobblestones two at a time, presumably watched by at least one spider that was so impressed it let my kid know it wanted to see more of me.

After getting dressed and packing snacks, we headed to the Plimoth Patuxit heirloom plant sale, a day that turned out much rainier than anticipated.

We looked at all these glistening plants from under our umbrellas and I got a few more than I’d intended.  Random old world herbs like elecampane and borage, feverfew and centaury.  Native plants like ironweed and tansy.   My husband picked some heirloom tomatoes.  My daughter chose wallflowers and a couple kinds of beans.  I chose pattypan squash (my favorite squash) that they said were sourced from Monticello, seeds of seeds of seeds once belonging to Jefferson, the man on the $20 bill.  But like so many things, pattypan squash are actually Native American, and much much older.

I also got some Boston marrow squash, a bright orange crook-necked variety that’s supposed to get to 15lbs and was advertised as popular in the Boston market in the 1800’s.

I hope I’ll be able to protect them from the squash borers, a pest I never knew existed back when I grew zucchini in New Orleans, but that I’ve had trouble with ever since I moved to New England.

After we got home, I went outside to plant a few things and pull some weeds, removing the Jameson nips, Dunkin’s cups, and cigarette butts from my hellstrip garden (the typical trash of local urban life), while saying hi to some neighbors who passed by.

While I was out there I realized that a false indigo seedling I’d carefully lifted from a garden bed outside a mall store in Hingham last year was in fact alive, just obscured by obedient plant that had spread over it.

I carefully pulled up enough of the obedient plant to give the false indigo breathing room, and then asked an older Asian couple who walked by and complimented my garden if they wanted any free plants.  They happily said yes and took a couple after I showed them a picture of the pink snapdragon-like flowers on my phone.  I felt a little bad throwing the rest in the yard waste bin after that.

So I made a cardboard sign saying “free plants” and put it outside, tucking the obedient plant and some pale pink yarrow into hastily labeled leftover pots, and leaving them curbside.  Then I snapped a quick photo of it all and listed it in my local Buy Nothing group as well.  I got a response there from a neighbor I’d never met who it turns out loves my garden, walks by it on the regular, and said she was coming to get some.

I have realized that as much as I’ve done this garden for me - to where I’d legit be fine if only a spider ever wanted to look at it - it does feel very nice to have others say they appreciate it, or discover it brings them happiness, or find some aspect of it inspirational.   

I think I will be doing more free plant giveaways as I thin some of the more vigorous plants.  Maybe somebody will take home a pot of something I’ve got out there and feel as happy as I did today, walking out in the rain in Plymouth, carrying a tray of new plants to try.