Homer'sWorld

I miss the garden we had back in Michigan. After it was plowed and disked my mother would lay out rows and put stakes down, running twine between the stakes. The little packets of seeds, with their colorful pictures, had come already. We'd pore over the seed catalogues in the winter and my mother would usually pick a packet for each of us. I liked morning glories and planted them above the little pet cemetery we had.

We'd plant the seeds, sticking the empty packet on the stakes, and water them and the seeds would poke up real quick. Some plants we started inside in the plant box and would transplant when it was warm enough. I think asparagus was always the first thing we picked. By late June we had early peas and potatos and green onions. By late July and August we were picking tomatoes, sweet corn, green beans, and carrots. We grew almost all of our vegetables. Also picked wild raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and black caps, which we froze and put in our chest freezer. Late summer was a flurry of canning and freezing.

Here in Arizona I can grow a few herbs, but that is about all. The horrible hot weather and the weird seasons confound me. If I ever move to the East Coast I will want a little patch of dirt to grow things in.