The Gardener

I have discovered that I really enjoy gardening. I like to be outside and work with my hands. Now ask me that in the middle of July and I might tell you something different. I wish the weather could be mild and warm (not hot!) all of the time so we could be outside more. The garden is really flourishing. I even found some vegetable among the weeds yesterday. Almost everything we planted is growing (I'm not sure if the watermelon or pumpkins are still underground.) which is amazing to me because I wasn't sure that anything was going to grow. Michael took these pictures (no, I didn't pose for the camera) even though I told him that I don't like him to take pictures of me when I am all yucky.

I have also discovered that there are a large variety of spiders and other bugs living in our garden. It is a good thing I am not afraid of bugs because I have killed a number of spiders on myself and watched a variety of other things scramble for cover as I pull up their homes in the form of weeds. I'm glad most of them have made their homes in our garden rather than our cellar. I can handle bugs outside better than inside.



This is the lettuce, which had the least weeds around the base of it. Must be the lack of sunshine because they get watered as much as everything else. We have been eating a lot of salad and I am finding new things to do with spinach (add to meatloaf, chopped up really small; add to lasagna cheese layer; chicken salad on a bed of spinach and lettuce).

I have also learned a lot about what to plant, how to place things efficiently, and how much to plant. Sometimes the textbooks and seed packets don't know everything about how to plant things best (imagine!). Oh well, it is all an experiment anyway.

Thank you, Michael, for the different perspective pictures. They are much more exciting than my general, aerial overview.