Playing in the dirt

Thinking back, many fond memories of my childhood involved digging in the dirt and trying my best to get something to grow. I was always excited when spring came around and, if I was lucky, Dad would let me take the tiller for a while to help turn over the dirt in the small garden we kept in the back corner of our backyard. All I really remember of the garden was that we had sunflowers on the back, cucumbers, tomatoes, a few pepper plants, and radishes. Ever the adventurer, I was always trying to grow the next mammoth watermelon or pumpkin, but alas, nothing more than a sprout. I think Dad really kept the garden each year somewhat just to appease me as it was a fairly shady spot and nothing much ever really grew.

On the other hand, I remember going to my Grandparent's garden in the thick of summer and getting lost in the rows of corn, lettuce, beans, cauliflower, squash, etc. Being that they had the huge farm, their private vegetable garden was between 1/2 acre and 1 acre in size (that's quite large - my whole property now is 1/2 acre, and it takes HOURS to mow). I remember that every fall, all the family would come down to help pick, shuck, and freeze the corn and to snap beans. This weekend typically culminated in a big cookout (maybe it didn't really happen exactly this way, but I remember, on more than one occasion, sitting in the den snapping beans, seeing Grandma, Aunt Hazel, and others walking back from the garden with buckets of corn, and eating at some point).

I've had my (rather successful) tomatoes in containers for the past few years, but when Sharon and I bought the house last year, I finally had the land to plant a proper garden. However, due to the late start I got and the drought we suffered, a few beans and tough-skinned squash were about all I had to show for it. Even my tomatoes suffered from a case of bud-end rot and then earwig infestation (I never knew what an earwig was until last year, and now, they are quite possibly my least favorite creatures on the Earth).

This year, I decided to double the size of last year's garden and I got an early start. Due to the exceptionally rainy and temperate summer we've had so far, everything is growing with great success! Currently, I have about 160 stalks of corn (2 different types), 10 tomato plants (2 different), 20 chili peppers (2 or 3 different - I can't remember), 30 or so bush bean plants, a small patch of radishes, a corner of sunflowers, and about 6 hills each of yellow squash, white squash, and zucchini. The radishes are about all pulled, and the beans have started to produce. I should have zucchini and tomatoes in the next two weeks. With the exception of a few corn and sunflower casualties due to goat intrusion, this is shaping up to be the best garden yet!

So why must I ramble on about my agricultural encounters? Simply put, it's what I love to do but more importantly, I want John to have these same experiences as well. Children these days spend too much time in front of video games and televisions and not enough time out enjoying the world that God gave us.

Sometimes I wish I could just be a farmer......maybe when I grow up :)