On Gardening Season Begins

            Do you know what time of year it is? Fred knows. He is already planning…or I should say, “plotting”!

            You see, Fred is a frustrated retailer who is really a farmer at heart. He loves to plant. And it is time to plan, or, er,” plot” your garden.

            About this time of year, we begin to receive seed catalogs in the mail…Lots of them. We get catalogs that tell all about flowers. And Fred then orders seeds for his wild flowers that always need a bit of a “restoration” in the Spring.

            We also gather catalogs that describe the most luscious vegetables that one could ever eat. Well, in fact, they are so beautiful; it would be a sacrilege to eat any of them.

Talk about luscious and succulent. Oh boy.

            Now, we do need rain or snow. The ground needs the moisture. And when those seeds and plants are in the ground, we will need to water them often. I learned that years ago when I moved here from the wet North.

            You see, we always had a little garden in the corner of our backyard. But, we never watered it. I remember my mother looking at her beans and saying, “I sure hope it rains this week. I don’t want to see this all dry up.” Sometimes she would water the garden with the hose, holding her thumb over the water so that it would spray. Then she would spray each area for about two minutes.

            It never entered her head to get the sprinkler going.

            I laugh now when I think of that mindset. But I thought that way for years after moving here. I couldn’t believe all the hose dragging, and sprinkler setting with the wind blowing, that Fred did.

            I am not the planter. I am the ONE who receives. When its time to harvest the garden goodies, they end up in buckets on my kitchen floor, or in my sink. Sweating Fred brings in green onions, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, and peas in the spring. Then later in the heat of the summer, he hauls in tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, green peppers, and finally, potatoes.

            This year, Fred had hip replacement surgery the first part of March. He stayed home recuperating, watching the March Madness basketball tournaments, and …You guessed it!  Perusing his garden magazines.

            I complain about the work involved with processing the vegetables, but I love eating them.

            However, this time I get to PLANT too!

            Now I don’t mind planting if someone tells me exactly what to do. I can count on Fred to do that. This year, because he won’t be able to get down on his knees until his hip heals, and he won’t be able to dig in the soil, guess WHO will? ME!

            This is how it works. Fred will sit in a folding chair by the garden. He will have string, sticks, and a hoe. I will string the “string’ in straight lines across the garden. Fred will guide me with his evil eye. Once the plumb line is set, Fred will tell me to drag my hoe handle down along the string line. Then I will get on my knees and plant little, itsy, bitsy onion sets all in a line. This will go on for several rows.

            Next, Fred will gather the big, rusty vegetable cans with the ends removed. (We use these every year) They are truly rusty and ugly. I will string the line, drag my hoe handle, and then make holes to deposit each broccoli plant. I will carefully pile up dirt around the base, and then place the can over each plant. Fred will tell me to get the hose and water each one.

            And so it will go with each row of veggies.

            I don’t mind doing it, just so he organizes it all. Actually, I will be rather proud of myself.

            And you can bet I won’t forget to water them!