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At one point in my life, when my children were young, I felt obligated to plant and tend a garden each summer, even though I did not enjoy it. Going out to the garden was a CHORE, like dusting or vacuuming. Who wants to do that?! But… it’s what every self respecting woman did in small town Saskatchewan, so I did, too. It’s just how I was raised, so even when we moved to BC, the Yukon, and the NWT, I still kept up the ‘gardening facade’.
Each year I would plant the usual – potatoes, beans, peas, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce… the entire list. Then I was forced to do something with all that produce – freezing, canning and the like. Sigh. One year, when we lived in the NWT, I read a very interesting book called Square Foot Gardening and the kids and I tried it as part of our homeschool efforts that year. That experience was kind of enjoyable, but probably because it was along the lines of an experiment, not a serious “put up food for the winter” kind of endeavour…
When we moved to Tumbler Ridge in 2008, there was no garden spot in my yard. Hallelujah! (I have a small perennial garden which I have been forced to keep, but other than that, I’m garden free!) When I finally gave it up, my family were actually surprised to find out that I didn’t enjoy gardening. (Kind of like baking and cooking – it was just one of those things that I DID because I was supposed to.)
Except… this spring I bought myself a tomato plant. As you can see, it has, indeed, produced some fruit. (And they were delicious!) I’m thinking about putting in some boxes for a few herbs next year…
Hm. maybe this gardening misfit is ready to give it another go next year…
Interesting “confession,” Tracy. I’ve done a lot of gardening plus canning, blanching, pickling, etc. After moving from the farm and later from our dream house with its big garden, we are settled into a duplex with a small raised garden. This year marks gardening on a smaller scale and I believe, for health reasons and lack of energy, we are done. My husband and I, and our kids when they were home, have had four decades of gardening, so it will be different to hang up our hoes. We’ll miss the home-canned dill and beet pickles, the fresh lettuce, the rhubarb desserts, etc.. Watching plants grow and sharing our produce with others we will miss, but to you we toss the torch. Be yours to hoe it hard and joyfully too.
It’s becoming a lost art I think
I could have written this! Ha ha!
You and me, sister!