The garden

I've always wanted to grow a garden. In fact, cam bought me a bunch of garden tools as a gift when we were first married. However, life has not yet been convenient for gardening or much else aside from basic survival most summers. Between school, surgery, pregnancies, starting businesses and full time work, I just had to let it go.

  This year I hesitated, but one night I decided that enough was enough. I spent a very unpleasant hour in the garden center of Smith's Marketplace with both children and their wretched mini shopping carts (not being dramatic. Those carts are the bane of my existence.) We were late in the season, it was sweltering and it was dinner time, but we filled those devil carts with seed packets and six packs of mystery plants (I got them for half price because they weren't labeled. Turned out to be cucumbers. Which are now pickles. I rock) 

  I cleared out a small patch of our flower bed, dumped a bag of soil in and waited a week. Why do these things overwhelm me!?! I finally decided that something was better than nothing, and got down to business. We scrapped all seeds and planted our tomatoes, basil, cucumbers and eggplant. I know, who grows eggplant? It was slim pickin's at the garden center. Pun totally intended. 

  I planted everything too close together-I fully expected at least 50% to die a quick death. And with the exception of the onions which visiting neighbor children promptly plucked from the ground, everything lived! We've eaten and frozen loads of fresh pesto, two cherry tomatoes and enough cucumbers for munching and making six jars of refrigerator dill pickles. Don't worry, our tomatoes are coming and we are picking the first eggplant tomorrow. They are cute as can be! 

  I am pleased as punch with every aspect. It was fun to plant with Charlie. He's taken the watering quite seriously, and he's nearly matched my enthusiasm when it comes to checking on the veggies and their daily growth. 

   More than anything, I'm happy that I finally overcame my perfect ideal and just did something. Something real is always better than a perfect idea. Next year we'll add something new. I actually went so far as to tell Cam that I want our kids to have a farm. Seriously. I tried to catch the words as they were falling out of my mouth, but they wouldn't be stopped. He'll hold me to it, darn it. But actually I'm quite enchanted lately by the idea of making home the center of everything for my kids. I don't think working in a garden or canning or collecting eggs from chickens (!?!) would do anything but reinforce that.