The anticipation of getting our hands dirty out in the garden begins during the ides of March and it builds and builds until we're finally able to bring our grande plans to fruition. In Wisconsin, that's usually somewhere around mid-May. This year, the weather was pretty chilly so we postponed most of our work until Memorial Day weekend.
Every year, we vow that we won't start any big projects.
And every year... there's always something.
This year, we put in a small stone "patio" to house our grill, hose reel, and umbrella stand. Not bad for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon, eh?
We also expanded the garden around our lilac bushes. My hope is that this will be the perfect location for our lovely lavendar plants... and a better location for my the scads of lamb's ear that I've managed to propagate.
Although I wasn't inspired to start seeds this spring, we did manage to plant a pretty decent vegetable garden. You'll see we three kinds of tomatoes in there, along with six varieties of peppers (2 sweet, 4 hot), lots of basil, some dill, and a few seedings of scallions, spinach, and kale.
I always forget how much work a garden entails. But, gardening teaches me good lessons. It reminds me that everything that's worth having takes a little bit of blood, sweat, and tears to bring around. Nothing in a garden performs well unless we're paying attention, so it's also a lesson in humility. If we don't stay on top of our game, the gardens suffer. So, we can't be selfish. And we can't rush things. We just have to be diligent and patient -- and the rewards will follow. I can actually say the same for the photos that go along with this post. Peef took the camera with him to Los Angeles this week... and the photos I need haven't been downloaded to the laptop yet. harumph! Rest assured, we'll get them posted when he gets back!
My favorite gardening reward?
A warm tomato, fresh off the vine in mid-July. Just what the doctor ordered.
What's yours?
