Can We Talk 2

Almost Garden Time

         The weather has turned cold again. But I'm ready to get some peat pots and good potting soil and start some seedlings inside. My dining room window gets lots of indirect sunlight every day.I can use egg cartons, too.

         Once I put anything outside, even in pots on the raised porch, chickweed quickly tries to take over. It takes daily weeding-almost daily-to keep it under control. Apparently, the seed of this weed blows everywhere and germinates quickly, putting out long roots. I know I heard a cowboy in a movie telling someone to use the chickweed to make a healing tea. Maybe it was the one about Texas rangers and the Alamo. The plant they had was much bigger than the ones we grow here. They're small and prolific.

         Now that my dad has retired, he's decided not to reduce the size of the garden. It was too much while he was working half a week. He's getting more feeble, so I'll have to help. I'm working fewer hours. I hate our back yard because I'm a mosquito magnet. My yard is mosquito central. I have a mild allergic reaction to the bites, and to some breeds, a very bad reaction that lasts. The swelling makes spider like whelps around the bite which will go up to the size of a quarter. It just depends on the type, So I have to use a lot of repellent and keep my Benadryl handy.

         This year, I'll just have to wear long pants, socks, and long sleeves, as well as repellent, if I'm going to be a vegetable gardener. I want spaghetti squash. We always have summer squashes (easy to grow), bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I'd like to try broccoli and beets, maybe garlic. Dad likes to grow green beans and egg plant. I'll have my herbs in pots on the back porch. Our strawberries are never successful.

         Before he moved to this house, Dad had a huge garden for a city dweller. Lots of tomatoes, corn, radishes, turnip greens, pumpkins, and unusual things. But he was younger and stronger. And my mom was alive to help out. When my grandmother was alive, she started the plants each year and got them ready for him. When we were kids, my mother had us picking and weeding while Dad worked two jobs.

         But it's not the tradition that makes me want the garden. It's fresh vegetables! No travel time, the nutrients are better. The taste is better. And knowing you raised it and prepared it makes you appreciate it more.