Garden

The south side of our house is perfect for a small garden. It used to be a less-than-stellar spot, because we had four huge maples that shaded the entire area. However, since tornado-like winds took out most of the trees, and since Rick and Daniel took out another one the other day, there is plenty of sunshine in a very sheltered spot.

So, Rick tilled up an area about 40 feet long and about 12 feet wide. He added good, broken-down manure and soil, then tilled that in.


Today the children and some of the grandchildren helped me mark out the beds and the pathways. Presently we pass to some other object which rounds itself into a whole as did the first; for example, a well-laid garden; and nothing seems worth doing but the laying-out of gardens. Ralph Waldo Emerson



We got onions (white and multipliers) into the ground, but I am not planting anything else until we get a fence up, to keep ducks and geese and dogs and various other animals, including two-footed ones, out of the garden! Thankfully, we have plenty of posts and enough fencing to get the job done. Planting shouldn't take place before the third week in May in our area, anyway. I can plant onions, and I will put in some Romaine lettuce and a few peas, because they don't mind the cold.

There is something about gardening that warms the heart. It's amazing to see that the dirty soil has enough nutrients in it to transform lifeless seeds into beautiful plants, bearing fruit. There's nothing like seeing the flowers transform into beautiful tomatoes, or gigantic zucchinis, or perfect peas!

Poetry and Gardens go together...


Of all the wonderful things in the wonderful universe of God, nothing seems to me more surprising than the planting of a seed in the blank earth and the result thereof.

A GARDEN is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Fern'd grot—
The veriest school
Of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not—
Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign;
'Tis very sure God walks in mine.

Dorothy Frances Gurney
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

It doesn't matter a whit that some of my vegetable gardens in past years have been overrun by weeds or consumed by creatures. It's spring, and here we go again!


Vita Sackville-West: The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before.


Meanwhile, I hope you are all planting seeds, and remembering how nice it is to play in the mud.

Mud

Mud is very nice to feel
All squishy-squash between the toes!
I’d rather wade in wiggly mud
Than smell a yellow rose.

Nobody else but the rose bush knows
How nice mud feels
Between the toes

By Polly Chase Boyden

Tractor Driver Daddy

I thought you might be interested in this picture, as an addendum to my last post. Rick loves his little tractor, and uses it for all sorts of jobs. Here he is hauling some debris away to be burned.

I think men are happiest when they have land and the tools necessary to subdue their domain. This tractor has been a great tool in Rick's hands! He has piled manure, moved snow, dug holes, filled holes, weeded my flower bed, moved debris, flattened the driveway, moved garbage, loaded the bin with garbage, and done many other things!

Spring Yard Work

We have been fighting some kind of 'flu bug, so we decided not to go to church today. After a lazy morning, we went outside and did a few jobs. It was a beautiful spring day, just warm enough to be pleasant, and just breezy enough that we couldn't keep a fire going.


Patrick trimmed the lower branches from the trees and bushes next to the parking area. Rick assembled a barbecue. Linda raked and cleaned up the pasture. The girls and Christopher ran errands. I raked up the debris from Patrick's tree-trimming, and Daniel ran the tractor and assisted Rick. Jared moved the logs from the van to the side of the house. We all kept busy!

It was very satisfying to be out in the sunshine, and even though we only worked a couple of hours, it was enough to make us feel like we accomplished a lot!

I have never considered yard work with the family as a chore, so much as a fun family activity. It was a joy to be out there, working together. When we were finished hauling away all the branches, we enjoyed a steak dinner, cooked on the barbecue.

What simple pleasure there is in just being together, working and playing and laughing and loving as a family! By the time we went in for supper, we all were feeling better. Maybe we have finally shaken the 'flu bug.

This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it!