January, 29, 2021

Gardening is in my blood. My father and grandfather were Master Gardners and I don't recall a time we didn't have a garden, greenhouse or experimental seedlings around the house. I remember the Edmond police coming to our house when I was in middle school. A police helicopter had flown over the night before and noticed the glowing lights of the greenhouse and sent officers to investigate. My dad happily took them on a tour of the greenhouse and offered to send them home with tomatoes, peppers and onions. I'm sure they were hoping to find something a bit more "aromatic" and illegal at the time. 

I am the happiest with my hands in the soil. I can spend hours looking at seed and plant catalogs, shopping the aisles of the garden centers and even drawing out and planning our garden for the next season. When we bought the farm, I couldn't wait to buy all the animals and plant all the seeds. Luckily, I have a husband who indulges me with surprise flower beds and gardens even bigger than I had imagined.  Last fall,  when the vegetable garden was depleted of green, I started designing and planning. I sat at the kitchen table for hours drawing and redrawing, plotting and charting a bigger garden with plans of an abundant bounty of fresh veggies and flowers. I finally showed my "presentation" to Matt. He had a slightly glazed over look...unlike me, he has 1,000 other places he would rather be than in the dirt. I got a, "sounds good". That's it??? "Sounds good"??? Do you have any idea how many hours it took me to put this together?? Did you notice the color coded drawings?? Buddy....give me more than "sounds good"!  Okay...that was the conversation in my head. Feeling slightly defeated but knowing I had about 6 months to build his excitement, I tucked my drawings into my gardening notebook (if you know me, you know my love for notebooks) and filed it away for spring. Fast forward two weeks...I drove to the farm on Friday night as I always do. As I'm pulling into the gate, I notice, what appears to be, a huge wooden outline in the grass behind the front pasture. I, of course, have to go check it out. My, "looks good", husband built a huge 24' x 36' raised bed garden. I had no words. 

So now, here we are, a short few weeks from the start of a new growing season. Seeds have been purchased, plans are official and we only lack a few truck loads of rich garden soil. I've never been so excited for warmer days, sunshine and hands in the soil. To my husband...I am forever grateful for your "looks good" and heart of gold. Audrey Hepburn said "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow". I look forward to many more gardens and even more tomorrows with you.