Gardening

While growing up, my parents planted a huge garden in our backyard.  Pretty much, there was no yard, it was all garden.  We had rows and rows of vegetables. Mostly, my dad would spend many hours prepping, planting, weeding, and watering.  All that hard work, provided us with wonderful fresh food for the whole year.

Each spring, after dad had tilled up the ground, I would help plant the seeds.  With great anticipation of the future harvest, corn was my favorite.  Every year, it was the same items, corn, green beans, beets, tomatoes, acorn squash, onions, lettuce, and potatoes.  Sometimes, we maybe would try something new like peas or parsnips.

During the summer, my one job was to weed the green beans.  I’m not sure why, I only remember having to do the beans. Did I have to do any other parts of the garden?  Or was that the part, that no one else liked?  Also, I don’t recall any of my brother’s helping.  Things that make you wonder.

Over the years, that garden was something that my dad took great pride in.  He would look for ways to improve the quality and quantity of the produce.  It was truly his passion in life.  As he grew older and his health declined, I’m sure it was hard for him not to be out there each summer.

After I had my own family, we didn’t have a place to plant anything.  It wasn’t until I moved to Highmore, that it became a reality again.  Trust me, our garden was no where near the size of my parents.  However, we still had a good variety of plants.

Now days, my gardening is a little different.   When we moved to the Hydeout Bed and Breakfast house, there was no space for a garden.  Our lot is all house.  So we had to get a little creative, and give up on having my favorite, corn.   Large pots, and a repurposed garbage can holder, now hold our plants.  Learning how to properly mix the dirt and water, has taken a few years to perfect.

Either way, you do it, home grown tomatoes are by far the most delicious.  And even though I hated that weeding, I loved the end results.  Oh and by the way, with pots, there isn’t hardly any weeds!