Garden Time

I have always wanted a nice big garden.  My Mom planted one every year when I was growing up.  Not a small garden but a big garden that fed us for a year.  We had corn, tomatoes, rhubarb, zucchini, strawberries, beans, peas, asparagus, peppers, onions, carrots and oh boy I know I am missing something.  Mom would can and freeze everything so we would have good food to eat all winter.  I loved it.  I loved being able to eat strawberries straight out of the garden.  I have an intense love of sweet corn. On the cob or off, I could eat it every day.

My garden, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired.  I do not.  Let me repeat this.  I do not have a great thumb.  If it goes into the ground on my property, it will probably die.  Granted, with two little kids I find it hard to get the time to tend the plants but I guess I try.  I also now live in a place with clay soil.  If you have never tried to grow anything in clay soil, count your blessings.  It is NOT conducive to growing plants.  Weeds love it, plants no.  Regardless, my Mom and son planted a garden this year while I tended my new baby girl.  They planted beans, zucchini, tomatoes and later on onions.

Wyatt got his little scoop and rake out and Grandma helped him dig the holes and get the seeds or plants in the ground safely.  Wyatt doesn't like to get his hands dirty but he had a good time!

The soil looks not too bad in this picture but don't let it fool you.  It is a thin layer I brought in to help break up the clay.  Our Summer has been almost the hottest yet.  We are one day away from setting a record here for the most days over 100 degrees so you can imagine what my garden looks like.  The only thing I was able to save from the moles, grasshoppers, rabbits and heat were the tomatoes.  The weather has given us somewhat of a break lately and they are finally getting some blooms.

 One day maybe I will have a big beautiful garden like my Mom's.  In the meantime I am going to have to settle for small and efficient!  My strawberries I planted two years ago are blooming again since it has cooled down a bit and next Summer I think they are going to be great.  Maybe my tomatoes will grow bigger than the size of a golf ball.  But regardless of my poor attempts, my son (and later on my daughter) will know where their food comes from and with any luck, one of them will get a green thumb from their Grandma!