Gardening is Good for My Soul

One of my favorite things about living in South Texas is having a garden.  I was born and raised in the California desert, so a big garden was never in the cards for me.  Sure, my dad and I planted some peppers and eggplants in pots, but even those we had to completely enclose in chicken wire to keep the ground squirrels from eating them.

But out here, where it actually rains and the dirt is actually dirt and not sand, I am able to have a garden.  I started off fairly small, I think it's about 10' x 12', and planted watermelons, pumpkins, lettuce, spinach, corn, potatoes, strawberries, squash, green beans, cucumbers, carrots, and onions.  They're a mix of seeds and seedlings that I bought and that my dad gave me.  I've already had some failures, the carrots, strawberries, and watermelon seeds have yet to sprout after being planted a month.  I might try to find some seedlings or plants to replace them or just move some of my other seedlings to their spots when I thin them.

I love the fact that I am going to be able to feed my family with food that I grew myself.  That I put a lot of hard work and worry into.  I love going out there in the morning and seeing another little leave poking out of the damp earth.  Kylie and I water the garden together every afternoon when we get home from the daycare.  I use the hose and Ky uses her green hippopotamus watering can.  At least once a week we try to go though the garden and weed out all of the darn crab grass that just refuses to give up its hold on the area.  Ky needs careful supervision with the weeding as she does not yet discern between seedlings and weeds. 

So we spend our evenings out under the warm Texas sun with the earth on our hands and bugs buzzing lazily around our heads.  And we are happy.

Heirloom tomatoes, romaine lettuce, and spinach

pumpkin spouts at my feet