But I Don’t Want To Garden

The sun will be up soon and I plan to be out in the enclosed vegetable garden. Up until last weekend I wanted no part of it. People would ask me, “What are you putting in your garden this year?” and I’d say, “I don’t want a garden this year, I need a break. Since we may be moving I don’t want to make the investment of time and labor. Even if we’re not moving I need a break from the summer heat and humidity.” I really didn’t want a garden this year.

Another reason I didn’t want a garden is that last October a storm damaged our raised beds. It lifted some of the frames up and moved them every which way (the frames are made of 12 x 10 pressure-treated lumber – they ain’t light). The disarray was disheartening. I had originally constructed the frames when we lived on the Zuck Homestead. Then I dismantled the frames and moved them to our new home. Then I moved all the dirt from the Zuck Homestead (good soil is gold) to our new garden – the move took a number of weekends. I looked at the disarray for some months before I attempted to reset some of the frames. A couple of the frames were beyond repair. What had been nice and neat was a mess.

The storm had also washed away most of the mulch used in the pathways and had lifted much of the underlying landscape fabric – did I really want to invest time and energy in restoration?

But there was a small problem standing between me and my goal not to have a vegetable garden…or perhaps I should say there was a big problem standing behind me pushing me forward toward the garden…Vickie. She wanted a garden this year. Oh great…what am I going to do. I was hoping her talk was just talk. But then she came home with tomato and pepper plants, and then she told me that she’d be planting beans. And then she told me that she’d be out in the garden putting it back to together…and then she asked me for help. Oh great.

Since I couldn’t let her attempt to move the heavy frames I repositioned those I hadn’t yet touched around the soil a few weeks ago. Then last weekend I got out to the garden early in the morning, repaired the frames as best I could, weeded the beds, moved soil from bed to bed in order to have beds for the plants (much soil had washed away in the storm when the frames were lifted up and tossed about) Vickie purchased and for beans, began to tidy up the walkways…and as I was doing all of this it happened…the joy and pleasure of the soil and gardening returned…I could feel it under my fingernails.

There is nothing quite like soil under the fingernails, nothing quite like soil in the pours of fingers and hands, nothing quite like holding earth and working with it. While wearing gloves has its place…the joy of wearing gloves is taking them off and feeling the dirt.

Well…I need to go now and plant tomatoes and peppers.

Oh how I do want to garden.