It all began back in January, quite by accident really. The tree nazis - 'scuse me, Duke Power - decided that any tree in our neighborhood that happened to be within a number of feet of a utility line no longer deserved to live. For five years we've had a section of woods behind our fenced-in backyard which provided a nice buffer from the neighborhood behind us - in the spring and summer you weren't even aware the houses there. Unfortunately, what was also lurking back there was - you guessed it - a utility line. So over three days in January they cut down nearly every tree we had enjoyed for years. Ugh.
Rather than stew over what could not be undone, the Lindsleys decided to "make lemonade out of lemons," as the expression goes, and turn a section of the now-cleared backyard into a raised garden. To be honest, my wife and I had talked for a while about growing a garden - when you go to the grocery store and are faced with the soaring food prices, a garden looks more and more attractive.
So back in June I began the process. First thing was cleaning out the brush of the "cleared" area. By far this was the most physically challenging part of the project, as the area was piled with heavy debris and the lovely briars that plague the woods around our house. Once that was done I built the frames for the raised gardens - 2 x 10 x 12 of treated lumber, notching the short ends so the long pieces would set straight. After covering the ground inside with fabric mesh to thwart weeds, I had a local nursery deliver the dirt. It took more than a few wheelbarrow loads, but eventually the frames were filled. As a final touch I buried a hose from the spigot off the back of the house to the garden, where I sunk a garden faucet and hose hanger in the ground with concrete - all of which sure beats carrying multiple buckets of water.
As of a few days ago, this is what we've got:
We got started a little late into the season, but here's what we managed to plant: tomatoes, lettuce, green beans, green peppers, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins, yellow squash, and (for the Mrs.) sunflowers. So far the tomatoes and green peppers are doing the best. Cucumbers looked early-on like they were going to bite the dust, but they've enjoyed a resurgence of sorts and seem to be growing well. The lettuce is already coming up and the green beans are just starting to show. The verdict's still out on the carrots and the squash.
Just about every night the family heads down to the garden after dinner to check out the bounty. If it hasn't rained in a few days (which is the case a lot in recent weeks), we'll give them some water. It's fun watching everything grow, and my wife and I hope the boys will be more inclined to actually eat vegetables if they're grown in our own garden (in contrast to their significant lack of interest in veggies from the store). We may be fooling ourselves, but the boys seem excited; and besides, if they don't eat it we certainly will.
There's one other "benefit" this garden has provided beyond an improved landscape and food to put on our table. Sometimes I find myself walking down there by myself; down the path off the backyard that leads to the garden. It's peaceful back there; and I check to see what's there that wasn't there the day before. I kind of admire the plants, actually. They're on no schedule other than their own. And they take their time. They couldn't grow a squash or green pepper any faster if they wanted to. While the world around them is rushing about, frantically working to "produce" this and that, my garden is focused solely on the timetable God has forever built into their makeup. I find something refreshing and renewing in all of this; and it's kind of neat thinking I can actually learn a thing or two from a tomato or a cucumber that isn't named "Bob" or "Larry" and found on a VeggieTales DVD.
Like I said, the verdict's still out on the garden in it's first year; and I know this is a learning process that will take a couple of years to get a good feel for. But that's okay. Because as I'm finding out, it isn't all about what's hanging on the branches as much as the work that goes into putting them there.
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