Embrace Your Destiny: Enjoy Creating

Tomato Plant on Steroids

“Donnie, check this out! It looks a lot like a tomato plant but how can that be? We didn’t plant tomatoes here last year. Should we leave it or let it grow?”

We both agreed to let it grow to see if it was indeed a tomato plant. Confirming didn’t take long. It morphed into a big plant quickly. Now, it is an out of control tomato plant and exactly why we decided not to plant tomatoes in the first place. My handrail is useless!

We’ve enjoyed watching our kitchen garden mature into it’s summer splendor. So far, it’s mostly avoiding beetles, worms, fungus and other pests we don’t know how or what to spray for. We plant marigolds to add color and to keep plant diseases away. Seems to be doing a good job so far. 

Embrace Your Destiny: Escape to Gardening

Loleh's smile for Grandma

“Let’s try caladiums in the barrel pot out at the shed. Don’t they take shade?” When I’m feeling sad and still fatigued after family leave, I usually get busy doing something I really enjoy. Baby Loleh, Liz and Philippe brought lots of energy and fun for two nice weeks. They went home, leaving a big empty space here. While I don’t miss the meal planning and preparation, I do miss their company, especially Loleh’s special “Grandma” smile.

This time, the really enjoyable activity I want to do is planting our summer garden. I love everything about this pre-summer ritual. I have been pondering what I might plant for weeks. We only buy and plant herbs, vegetables and flowers that we know we can grow. We are done with tomatoes, beans, vines like cucumber and squash, and anything that gets wormy. We have limited space and scattered success with vegetables. To save ourselves angst, we plant what we know works.