The Garden, Part Two

In my last post I mentioned that I had sworn off gardening for the second time. What made me give it another go?

Really, it wasn't me. I was quite determined to stick to my guns. But, I haven't quite figured out if my husband is devious or wanting to be like his dad. His dad is amazing, so I tend to lean that direction. But, here's where my doubts start. Early one February morning I heard a motor outside my bedroom. I figured it was the lawn mower. But I was wrong. My sweet husband had borrowed his dad's tiller and was having a hay-day stirring up the ground in our garden plot. A few days later he goes over it again. 

Meanwhile, I stayed as far away from it as I could because I knew what was coming. Then he said to me, "I need to go to Home Depot. Do you want to go?" That's like asking me if I'd like to be on the NY Times Best Seller list. Heck ya! Hello. I love Home Depot. So I went. We entered the garden section and picked out all sorts of lovely starter plants and seeds. What was I doing? I was breathing deep the scent of rich dirt and tangy herbs. I was picturing all the sweet cantaloupe my family would devour mid-summer. It completely overtook any good sense I had. 

We brought our treasures home and dug three rows of mounds for the seed potatoes my husband got from a friend. On the fourth row I planted lettuce, carrots, radishes, onions,  and beans. I made a section for my tomatoes, squash, pickling cucumbers, sugar snap peas, and watermelon. Red bell peppers, chili peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, basil, strawberries and more carrots went in the box garden. And far away from it all, I made a spot for the cantaloupe. Why far away? We learned the hard way that cantaloupe tends to pick up flavors from surrounding plants. 

So you guessed it, I'm once more queen of the garden. No one else tends to it. Just me. My little guy likes to go out there and dig in the dirt, but he's too little yet to be much help. But I tried something new this year. I use a sprinkler rather than hand watering everything. It takes a little over ten minutes and I'm not such a freak about the weeds this year.

So, when you find a shortcut that works, use it already. Whether it's outlining, or not outlining, character bible or no, the important thing is to Write On my friends.