Last weekend, we started a garden. The idea had been on my mind since last
spring but when we missed out on that opportunity I swore we’d be prepared for it
this year. That. Never. Happened. But even though we're not very prepared, I
realized we were still “in season” to plant things. So last Saturday, I woke up bright and early,
got us dressed, and made a grocery list. As we were leaving, I looked back at
this overgrown pen we used to keep Sampson in, and made up my mind.
I picked up some vegetable seeds, and some herbs at the store. I am by no
means finished with our selection. After we were done shopping I headed home, and
asked my husband if he could mow some of the grass down for me. Once he was done
I asked my dad for a rake, a garden hoe, and a shovel. I opened up the gate, and
instantly realized just how BIG this “little” lot was.
I went to work on it. After a few minutes my husband came out to help me. He
asked why, of all weekends, I chose to start a garden on the one with a forecast
claiming the temperature would rise well over 85 degrees? When I told him I was
fine with doing it all by myself, he said I’d be there all day if I didn’t have
help. He was right. Thankfully by noon, and a few
blisters later we had almost all of the weeds pulled up. By Sunday afternoon, the lot was finally ready! Unfortunately, it would have to wait till Monday though.
I needed some soil for the herbs, and being a newbie I forgot to get some on
Saturday.
Sunday afternoon, my grandmother had come home from visiting family and she
asked to see my garden. When I showed her, she immediately looked over at my
tools. She smiled, and told me that those were the tools grandpa had made her a
long time ago when she wanted to garden. Her face, that hug, and that moment
truly made my heart happy.
Finally, Monday came around and I was able to get my soil! I planted the herbs and took out more weeds. Then yesterday, I planted the vegetables! I'm not done yet either. I really want to get some huge “elephant ear”
plants, I still have to dig up some more roots on one side, and I want to make a flower bed on the opposite end too. :)
Before I started this project, I never realized how much time I spent inside. How much TV we watched, and how the only activity I really got was when I worked out. Now that we've started this garden, we've all been outside a lot more. Emery's getting to spend more time running around, and playing with the dogs which she's more than thrilled about. And before this I hadn't really done any hard physical labor since high school. So, I'm pretty sore and finding muscles I hadn't used in awhile. My husband also commented about how he hadn't worked that hard (outside) in awhile. So this really makes me feel like we're doing something good. We're doing something together as a family, and it doesn't involve sitting in front of the TV. And that to me, is pretty awesome.
