April 4, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
Duck Ponderings: Appreciation of gardens takes a while to bloom
I must be honest. The word "garden" hasn't always stirred good emotions within me. When I was growing up on our farm in rural Jennings County, my most enjoyable part of gardening was plowing and disking it in preparation for the planting and then taking the bush hog over the remains after harvesting it. I absolutely dreaded the other aspects of it -- the hand planting, the weed picking, the hoeing, and the gathering (green beans in particular).
Dad and Mom realized my lack of garden inspiration and tried to encourage me through positive incentives. For example, they would give me a little money for each bucket of picked green beans. Being ever so clever, I developed a plan and filled the bottom of several buckets with vines and leaves before topping them off with a thick layer of green beans. Of course, Mom was quick to catch on, and my scheme didn't help my bank account or my back side!
At the same time, I always enjoyed eating fresh foods from our garden. Ironically, my favorite was always the green beans! I feel fortunate to have an uncle in his eighties who year after year still toils in his large garden for hours producing enough vegetables for seemingly the entire neighborhood including us.
Before the beginning of a school year, I wanted to find a special place in Indiana to take my family to relax and enjoy as well as to celebrate 24 years of marriage. While working on a retirement goal of wading through my many home files, I came across one labeled as "Vacation." Within it, there was a Bartholomew County REMC Electric Consumer article about Cathedral Gardens in Henryville, Ind. I then called, made secret arrangements, and packed a picnic lunch to enjoy within the fifty-two acres after the tour.
Well, it is difficult to describe the experiences we all enjoyed that beautiful August afternoon as we viewed twelve gardens, each individually unique while offering a mosaic of colors featuring a wide variety of flowers. The Daugherty family felt as if it was their mission calling to develop this once swampy area into a spiritual haven. My childhood gardening days certainly helped in understanding and appreciating the time and effort required in making this spot in southern Indiana one of the most captivating and refreshing places in the world, a place I later took my mom.
Even though the gardens have since been sold and consequently are no longer open to the public, you can get more of a sense of what we viewed on that day by referring to their website that continues to be active, www.cathedralgardens.com.[[In-content Ad]]
