Around the Town: Loretta is getting a green thumb

Loretta Humble
Loretta Humble

By Loretta Humble/Around the Town

Our Cedar Lake Home Health and Hospice brought Gary Sobol, the man who is teaching a revolutionary approach to Parkinsons Disease, back to Texas. He was so great the first time, we just wanted a second dose. He trained six more teachers, bringing our total to 16. Two of them are Cedar Lake Nursing Home, so now our nursing home people are getting the benefit of his teachings, which are good for a lot more than Parkinson’s. Classes are ongoing, so if you are interested, just call us and we will help you find one.

I was tied up and didn’t get to see Mr. Sobol, but his coming did remind me of when he came last time, when I got inspired by the amazing good he is doing at 78, my exact age, and resolved to do something new and important with my life instead setting around practicing being retired. It also reminded me that, unfortunately, I have mostly continued setting around being retired. I guess I have not found my next adventure yet.

I am trying to see if it might have something to do with growing things. Shelly Fugitt is encouraging me in that endeavor. Shelly lives next door in the house where I lived while I was getting my present house moved in here and renovated. She pays her rent by surrounding my house with wonderful shrubs and flowers. She has a green thumb like my mama did. She can stick anything in the ground and it will grow. I watched her dig up some five feet tall cannas and replant them on a hot August day and they didn’t even wilt. Nobody but Shelly could do that. I’ve been getting out there with her lately and it is pretty fun. And I’ve been studying up on plant propagation, and found you can root nearly everything: we can make our own plants instead of buying everything! It just takes longer. Well, you do have to have a plant to start with, or get somebody to let you have some cuttings. I’m nearly an expert now. I know how to create the right planting medium, and make mini greenhouses. You get plastic dishpans from Dollar Tree, and drill a lot of little holes in the bottom of them. Then you fill each with a mixture of sand and potting mix, (or some say just sand to start with) and get it real wet. Then punch holes with something like a pencil, dip your six inch cuttings in some rooting hormone, plug them in the holes, and tuck them in tight. Then you find an opaque tote—that is one light can shine through—and you turn it upside down and set it over the tub. This is your greenhouse. Now find a shady spot to set it outside, and just peek at it every now and then to see if it needs water. So far I’ve only tried flowering quince and bougainvillea, and they are thriving. It is really exciting to see new little leave coming out. I’m going to duplicate everything on the place!

There are people who make a pretty good living just propagating plants from cuttings in their back yard, and selling them when they grow into little shrubs. I’m not sure I’m up to that, but if anybody who reads this is interested, contact me and I can give you some more information about it.

Soon I’ll know how to do a lot more about this kind of stuff. Shelly and I have enrolled in the Master Gardeners course that is offered through TVCC. It starts next month and goes through the end of the year. I’m told the book you get with the course is worth the tuition cost. We are pretty excited about being college students again.

As you can see, I don’t have anything very interesting to tell you, so please, somebody take mercy and do me some more guest columns. I know there is a wealth of stories out there, and we need to hear them. I loved what Chris Drake and Don Henderson shared with us, and I hope they will do you the great favor of once more sending something more substantial than my chatter to fill this place.
Come on folks, share!

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