Before I delve into all the wonderfulness that was our vacation (big beaches, big trees, big campfires), I want to acknowledge the lovely home we settled into in the days before we left. We love it. I want to say it again because we love it that much- seriously, we love our new home. It is old and chock full of so much dang character. Built in the mid-eighteen hundreds, it just feels so full of stories. It was in the same family for almost all of those years, and at least one child was born in it. "If these walls could talk" and all that. It's got a barn with a loft in the backyard and marshland as a neighbor. And it has lots of space for gardens. Gardens!?
One of my LIST items (#16, to be exact) has been to "help Jake have a big garden again." Before Jake and I moved into our last apartment, he lived in a house with a nice sized backyard. He had two chickens (named "Beef" and "Pony"), and a great, big garden. Before we started dating he "courted" me by leaving his own home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers on my desk at work. The first time I went to his house was to see his garden. He showed me a cantaloupe he grew and a few weeks later, in the first stages of dating, we ate it together. When we moved last summer, he lost the yard and gave the chickens to my uncle in Connecticut. He moved all his gardening tools into a friend's garage and gave up on having a proper garden again for a while.
Then this house fell into our laps- it all happened rather quickly and unexpectedly, looking at it on a whim and then suddenly falling in love with it and what it would mean for us. We had such absolute peace about the whole thing, and before we knew it we were moving into a whole new adventure and undertaking. Not until we got back from vacation had I ever gardened before. Sure, I've pulled a weed or two in my life, but I've never cleared and hoed and dug and watered. As of Sunday, I am in love with it all. I worked on the yard for 4 hours on Sunday and another 3 after work yesterday. It is hard, dirty work and is so rewarding. And I've started accomplishing #16- we're on our way to having a big garden again. There's even a cantaloupe seedling.
*Well, not a farmer really, but a gardener. Farmer just sounds so much more surprising. "Farmer Kim" has a good ring to it, right? But is it better than "Director LaCroix"? Doubtful. I'll keep my day job.
One of my LIST items (#16, to be exact) has been to "help Jake have a big garden again." Before Jake and I moved into our last apartment, he lived in a house with a nice sized backyard. He had two chickens (named "Beef" and "Pony"), and a great, big garden. Before we started dating he "courted" me by leaving his own home-grown tomatoes and cucumbers on my desk at work. The first time I went to his house was to see his garden. He showed me a cantaloupe he grew and a few weeks later, in the first stages of dating, we ate it together. When we moved last summer, he lost the yard and gave the chickens to my uncle in Connecticut. He moved all his gardening tools into a friend's garage and gave up on having a proper garden again for a while.
Then this house fell into our laps- it all happened rather quickly and unexpectedly, looking at it on a whim and then suddenly falling in love with it and what it would mean for us. We had such absolute peace about the whole thing, and before we knew it we were moving into a whole new adventure and undertaking. Not until we got back from vacation had I ever gardened before. Sure, I've pulled a weed or two in my life, but I've never cleared and hoed and dug and watered. As of Sunday, I am in love with it all. I worked on the yard for 4 hours on Sunday and another 3 after work yesterday. It is hard, dirty work and is so rewarding. And I've started accomplishing #16- we're on our way to having a big garden again. There's even a cantaloupe seedling.
Yay! This is so exciting. This is my first year as a "farmer" too. I'm loving it and hating it. I planted to early and lost a lot of my seeds to frost. Womp womp. But that just means that each and every little sprouting seed is a hearty soul that I LOVE to pieces for surviving.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the ol' garden. I look forward to frequent updates!!