Dads

[Helgalush]

Dads are great. I've had such a hard time lately, but my Dad travelled 6 hours today (return journey) to come up and give me some company and helped me with my gardening as I had been a bit overwhelmed over the last two weeks and my potting on and sowing had got very behind.

We havent always had a smooth relationship but he was really there for me today.

We did some bonding over the flowerpots, had a lovely lunch and a cider together and he talked through all my growing plans with me. He gave me loads of information about growing conditions, times to sow things, where to site things, watering, compost etc. All the stuff that he had built up and learnt himself but I hadnt learnt yet.

He potted on some of my peppers, morning glories and french beans for me, sowed some runner beans, sunflowers and nasturtiums and showed me how to pot on my leeks properly and thin them out instead of just planting everything in big clumps like I usually do!

I gave him some pepper plants, leek seedlings and celery seeds in exchange. I am now back in control of my veggie growing thanks to my Dad, but more importantly I just felt like we really shared something special.

I know this sounds soppy and sorry for the long post, but its amazing what gardening (and Dads) can do for the soul. x

[binley100]

It's not soppy at all . Dad's are great and I don't think we truly appreciate them until we're "grownup" .

[CaroltheCarrot]

lovely ,i miss my dad but have wonderful step dad who would do anything for me

[ginger ninger]

It sounds like you had a wonderful day with a wonderful Dad, it's great when you can share a common interest, I bet your Dad enjoyed it just as much as you did... may you have many more .

[Helgalush]

Yeah it was a wonderful day, I will remember it for a long time. I hope he enjoyed it too although I probably got more from it than he did. He just somehow made everything ok.

I now feel confident that some of my crops will come good, even if they all dont, it was fun trying!

[Bren In Pots]

I bet your dads gone to bed a very happy man tonight.

[Helgalush]

A very tired man, if nothing else!!

[Patchninja]

How lovely. My Dad loved gardens. He died very suddenly in 1996 and I STILL miss him!

[elsie-scot]

That's lovely, what a great day you had together.

My dad knows nothing about veggie growing, but plenty about most other things, so it's great to pick his brains about things.

[Pumpkin Becki]

What a lovely story Helgalush. I adore my Dad too, he's not a great gardener (that was my Mother's domain), but he enjoys looking round my garden, and sometimes he comes to Garden Society Shows with me.

He used to teach National Servicemen on the Rifle Range (in the days before ear defenders), and in my teens I got very frustrated/angry with him, because his hearing was deteriorating so badly that you had to repeat everything you said (me being a hormonal teenager didn't help much!).

Now he has two hearing aids, and we have a much nicer relationship. I wish I hadn't missed those years in the middle.

[Flummery]

How lovely. My Dad, now deceased, used to grow veg and it was the memory of those vegetables fresh from the garden that made me want to grow my own, all those years ago!

[janeyo]

That's lovely, My dad often helps me out with the boys, or driving me places, or doing bits of DIY for me, or feeding the animals of I'm away. I haven't got him trained up yet to help with the veggies...

[taff]

My dads fab.
Anything that involves wood, cars, plumbing, bulding of any kind, he taught himself to do, and taught himself properly, so anything I know about it, I learned from him.
I grow veg now [a bit obsessively lately] thanks to him always managing to gets masses of veg from a tiny back garden.
Thanks to him, I'm also not afraid to try doing something, no matter what it is.

[Rhona]

My father was a very keen gardener and most of we ate came from the garden. He died just before I turned 16, and whilst he was still very young. As we start to raise our little family, and grow our vegetables and flowers, I realise more and more about how much he taught me, even when I didn't know I was learning!

I still miss him terribly, but I am enjoying reading how many of you have such lovely relationships with your dads.

[Rocketron]

I bet your dads gone to bed a very happy man tonight.

You bet your bottom dollar !