KEEP GrOwING

Trying To Plant A Vegetable Garden For The Third Time

When I read comedian W.C.Fields’ advice — “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.” — I laughed out loud.

I’ve never been a great cook, but I learned early on in our marriage to make a huge pot of ham, potatoes and green beans for  comfort food.  I don’t know why I got the bright idea that I should grow my own green beans back then.  I  had never planted  a garden in my life.   My husband agreed to dig up a spot in the backyard for my Burpee seeds. I was so excited when the stems broke through the soil and the leaves began to open. I watered and watched them every day.  

One morning when I checked my garden, the plants looked like big W’s  sticking out of the ground. The leaves were gone and there were a few small white  flowers protruding from the stems.  I asked my husband, “Honey, what stage is this?”

With a smart-ass grin on his face, he said, “It’s the Wabbit stage.” Grrr!

It was a couple years before I tried my hand at vegetable gardening again after that.  My husband worked for a custom fertilizer company, and they offered garden plots to their employees. If you’ve ever had fresh sweet corn, you can guess how excited I was to grow my own. I had visions of my kids munching on corn cobs with melting butter dripping off their chins.  But things didn’t go as I planned.  You guessed it – one day I went out to check the garden,  and I found mutated midgets standing in rows. Someone had washed their sprayer out,  and our corn stalks got a huge drink of leftover chemicals.

Well, I didn’t even think about having a garden for another 50 years.  No use being a damn fool right?  

I don’t know if I have a primitive yearning to grow my own food, a never give up attitude,  or an undying need to embarrass myself at this age;  but I planted another little garden this year.  So far,  the sunflowers are peeking over the fence and the zinnias are attracting butterflies.  The tomatoes and cucumbers are both full of blossoms and vegetables.  I’m excited about making creamy cucumber salad this summer.

But this morning — I saw a rabbit trying to squeeze under our fence…  

Tonight — as Elmer Fudd once said, “Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet.  I’m hunting wabbits.”

It’ll Be Ok.

                                                            ~~~

“They say woman appreciate persistence, a restraining order proves that was a lie.” ~ Quote Gram

COMMENT: Have you ever had a vegetable garden?