Vince was here dropping gravel and moving earth around in the barnyard. We have him come once a year to replenish the gravel in the pole barn and help with the drainage so there’s less mud.
Every year it gets a little better.
Scott, from Pompanuck, brought his truck over so Vince could load it up with manure. We had an extra big pile this year, mostly because of Chloe, and here was plenty left over.
So Jon came up with the idea of expanding the garden. And since Vince was here with his tractor it became easy work.
What would have taken me days to do by hand, he did in a half hour.
He scraped up the top layer of grass and replaced it with the manure. Then he left a pile of more manure for me to move, in the fall, into the part of the garden that’s already planted.
Next year’s garden will be three times bigger. Jon and I are already talking about what we’ll grow.
I never wanted to grow vegetable before, we have so many farmers in the area and fresh veggies are very available.
But since starting my Three Sister’s Garden last year, I’ve come to love the whole process of planting seeds and watching them sprout. Then coming up with ways of cooking and eating what grows.
I also like how a garden makes me think about the next year. I guess because for so long I never wanted to stay in the same place. It wasn’t until I met Jon that I had the urge to stay put in one house, without thinking about where I’ll move next.
Thinking about next years garden, gives me a sense of stability. How ever false it may be. There’s something comforting in planing for next year. And it takes the edge off the melancholy that comes, for me, with the end of summer.
I like to think having a garden gives us hope for a tomorrow. How nice to have a larger garden to plan out during the autumn and winter months ahead. I look forward to looking through those colorful garden seed catalogs that seem to arrive on a dreary winter day. Even living here in Florida the winter can be disheartening when we get gray days without the benefit of cold weather. As a northerner transplanted in Florida I still miss the seasons even with a longer growing season its nice to let the garden beds go to rest over the winter.
There is something nice about thinking of the gardens and all the vegetation resting in the winter. It certainly sets the tone for my days.
I love gardening for all the same reasons! Even if I couldn’t eat anything in it, just had ornamentals, I’d still love to watch everything grow. But eating such beautiful things that came out of my own piece of soil is satisfying in a way that is hard to explain. Annie
It is hard to explain Annie, I just think it’s a part of us even though so many of us are disconnected about where our food comes from.