Stroke recovery: Gardening is therapeutic

Mexico Midget

Gardening is therapeutic, whether I am thinking about it, reading about it, planning for it, shopping for it, or visiting the gardens of others, especially through the miracle of posts by blogging friends.

But best of all is getting outside and grubbing in a garden. It is great mental and physical exercise for this stroke survivor.

This year Husband Walter and I are experimenting with new-to-us varieties of tomatoes, thanks to recommendations and on-line ordering available through the Mobile Botanical Gardens.

And thanks to Hubby’s taking measures to protect our tomatoes from occasional low temperatures in March, we already have about six little tomatoes on the “Mexico Midget” plant.

The tomato above is about the diameter of a dime and probably won’t get much bigger. The on-line catalog description said when ripe the Mexico Midget tomatoes will be about half the size of a regular cherry tomato.

We should be picking ripe tomatoes from all four varieties around May 4. Three of the four varieties we planted are cherry-tomato sized or smaller. One is medium sized. 

I chose varieties that were touted as flavorful, indeterminate, highly productive and requiring  fewer than 70 days from transplanting to harvest.

Today we are having thunderstorms and high winds. Although rain usually drains from our driveway rapidly, the deluges dumped so much water so fast that the accompanying wind gusts made white caps. That is only a little exaggerated, and I am wondering how our tomato plants are faring in the turbulence.

Tomato blooms promise tasty delights

Yesterday was a sunny, mild day perfect for weeding and snapping a few photos. Maneuvering my body and camera into position to snap these pictures of baby tomatoes and blooms was a challenge, although admittedly a welcomed challenge.

I am not quite sure why on the macro setting my point and shoot camera focused on the plant’s hairy branches instead of the little tomato and the blossoms I was aiming for. Focusing is definitely another challenge of my stroke recovery, both photographically and mentally. That reality contributes to the fact that life is often a hoot around our household.