busconews.com

by Bob Smith

Hi there.

This continues to be a real weird gardening year.  An old time COLD winter, an UNUSUALLY rainy spring, and I have made some gardening (and driving!) mistakes –but the gardens are planted, Judy has pulled two trailer loads of weeds from the flower beds – but the gardens are planted and growing, and, as usual, we are eagerly awaiting our first ripe tomato sandwich!  But, we know it will be awhile.  We do visit and buy from area produce sales events, and have always been well pleased by the fresh produce that is on sale, produced by our neighbors.

One of the many, many good things about gardening that we like is knowing that next year will be better!  It is an area where we continue to learn something more about our gardening practices, occasionally finding a new tool, product, or method to lessen the effort it takes, or what the gardens produce. We both like working outdoors, with our hands – and we have managed to find things to help us return to standing position from the kneeling position that gardening requires.

Well, going to church has a similar position, but unless you sit in the front row, where there is no back of a seat row to help – while gardening in recent aging years, we have discovered getting up with the help of an empty pail or a g. u. s. (Get Up Stick) gets us upright fairly easily!  And we now have in Judy’s pocket, a mobile connection to call 911 for medical help if either of us have any need while out of the house.

We would rather work than watch TV, and we get up by 5 a.m., but since the first thing we like at that time of day is the weather prediction – we tape our favorite late evening TV programs when they are broadcast, then play them back while we wait for sunrise, breakfast, and HOT COFFEE to start our day.  It is really more fun than hurrying out to milk cows or feed chickens, butwe do miss their company.  Two black Labs, one cat – who loves to chase our old rooster, and maybe a rabbit family in the windbreak are the only animals we care for knowingly, and we love their company!

We are elderly, and we have worked for many years, but now we are retired, and gardening provides a good part of our interest, food, and occasionally frustration at our own mistakes or forgetfulness. It is an excellent exercise provider, recommended by America’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, to Weight Watchers, and, I bet, your personal health provider.  Tending your lawn, raking leaves, or pulling weeds, can burn as many calories as bike riding, doing exercises in a health club, walking four miles, or playing golf – and none of them give you sun ripened tomatoes to put between two slices of your favorite bread, with mayonnaise or your choice of seasoning!

My favorite banker’s son, who is now our current banker, has a beautiful daughter, in college out-of-state, who got interested in community gardening, and enjoys helping strangers in a faraway state, organize a community garden, where they all work to produce seasonal food harvests for their own tables, and many of her gardeners grew up with parental gardens. 

Some young people get so busy with school work and other activities, that they don’t have time to learn the gardening skills their parents use to save money and provide food for the family table – not only for less money expenditure, but for the pleasure and exercise it provides them.

Selecting a good garden site, tilling the soil, planting seeds that become food crops, maybe learning about fertilizing from other gardeners, soil tests and how to give that needed help to their growing garden, learning how much water is needed, how to measure how much we get, and how to provide it when normal rainfall doesn’t occur when needed,  watching them mature – then as the crops mature, harvesting and enjoying the food they have (with the garden soil and sunlight’s help provided), give them pleasure, education, nutrition, and an enjoyable exercise program.  We think gardening at any level is WONDERFUL!  !  !  good gardening