I had dreams of a garden big enough to feed the neighborhood. This was the year I would finally take the time to do it! Nothing was getting in my way. Nothing! My plans also included growing everything I need to can my own spaghetti sauce - tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, oregano. My secret sauce would be available with the twist of a lid! I can think of nothing better than putting in extra hours up front to make dinner prep quick and easy. I've been formulating shortcuts for years, but this would be the ultimate! (I should probably mention I've never canned, either unless you count the summers helping my Aunt Bev stir her sauce and tighten the lids!) In my mind, this would help me become more like the Proverbs 31 woman. "She gets up while it's still dark, provides food for her family....she plants a vineyard....she sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."
Instead, we've had baseball and softball games to prepare for and play. Glen coaches Grayson's team, so he's particular about summer activities on game days. Outdoor activities are inevitable, but not for too long. No sunburns for us whitey's - and no swimming on game day for sure! The regular ball season just wrapped up, but Grayson is on the allstar team, so we're not done yet. (Uggh - I mean, YEAH!)
The past few months have been full of good intentions. After several weeks of rain, my in-laws bought a tiller after hearing of my plans, but all for not - it never started! Finally last week, I walked into Lowe's and priced raised garden beds. They're marked down, but still a little pricey - this is an experiment, after all! I looked for tomato plants and guess what was on clearance?!! They were marked down from $9 to $1 so I decided to buy five or six. When the lady at the register rang me up, she said she'd give them to me for 50 cents if I'd buy them all! SOLD! Sixteen tomato plants for $8! Surely owning sixteen plants makes me a gardener;-)
Once again, I had big plans. Saturday I would "work the ground" in my backyard and begin my journey. As I'm cleaning house Saturday morning, Glen was mowing and trimming the yard. I hear him stop and I begin to hear a noise. A rhythmic sound - with intention. I step out back to see my husband with a post-hole digger! NOOOOOOO!!!!! That's my job! I've been planning this for years in my head. It never included Glen doing the work - or using a post-hole digger for that matter. Though it will help you to get the plant in the ground, I don't think it's the ideal way to plant them. Where I imagined hours of time spent tending, nurturing and contemplating, he saw a task to check off of a list.
After calling Dig-Rite to mark the utility lines in our yard, the only suitable place to plant was smack-dab in the middle of the back yard. The final straw was that somewhere along the way, one of the many owners of our 75 year old home decided to get rid of their concrete patio by covering it with 6" of dirt! Guess where the patio was? Yep - smack-dab in the middle of the back yard! The only place left to plant them is in the front yard! Since I don't think our neighbors would appreciate this, and there are probably codes restricting it, we'll look for other options. The raised garden is looking like a better idea everyday - especially since for now, the plants are in rows on my driveway!
I'm convinced there's a conspiracy to keep me from gardening, but I'll diligently tend to my potted plants for now.
Oh, and while reading Proverbs 31 again, I think I found a loophole. Proverbs 31:14 says, "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." Could this mean a trip to Sam's and Aldi's? Or possibly Mexican take-out? I think it could......
Blessings,
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