Days later, we had fresh, green peas with our Sunday dinner. The tomatoes were growing and spreading. They hung low and weighed the vines down. I hadn’t supported them, but they were loaded with lush, green tomatoes.
Then rabbits came to call. They cleaned out my onions and attacked my peas. What the bunnies didn’t care for, the slugs and crows did.
They left me, my radishes and the tomatoes at the front of the garden. I was depressed. All my work. All the hours spent weeding and watering and battling insects.
I now hated rabbits. Before, I had always thought they were cute. Now, it was war. Me against them.
I consoled myself with the fact, I had all kinds of tomatoes at the front of the garden. We would be living on tomatoes for years. The cantalope was growing good.
The dahlias and the mums stayed the same. The silver and lavender mounds grew two inches and halted. Creeping Myrtle, never moved. There were no flowers to be seen.
The following week, we had two nights of frost. The second morning, I went out and my tomato vines were black. When Josh came home and said, I should have covered them, I cried.
Who covers tomatoes? I didn’t know. With Josh’s help, I managed to save about fifty tomatoes. We picked them and put them in the house to ripen.
The nights which followed, were excessively warm. I hated the weather. Everything was against me. From the tiniest black fly, to old mother nature herself.
Instead of a green thumb, I had black nails. I was thoroughly disgusted. Nothing grew in the way of flowers, but I was not to give up.
In the Fall, I planted seventy-five tulips in front of the house. I babied them, fed and watered them, and I waited each day for a sign of life.
The following Spring, leaves surfaced. They had stems. They grew higher. Green buds were closed. I counted them over and over. Out of seventy-five, forty-three were showing.
Then one morning, I stepped outside and was greeted by the sight of the prettiest tulip. Rose-colored with white edges.
It was beautiful! It was mine! It survived the winter and it lived in graceful splendor. I couldn’t wait for Josh to come home. I carefully trimmed the grass around my tulips.
I’ve seen some people with tulip beds. A piece of earth dug out. A small square. Mine grew amid grass, weeds and all.
By the weekend, three more had blossomed. Two yellow and a tangerine-colored one. I proudly showed Josh.
Each time one more popped its colorful head, I took Josh directly to it. All told, I have eleven tulips swaying in the breeze with seven more almost ready to join them.
Out of seventy-five, twenty-two isn’t bad. Is it? The forty-three? Most never got past the stem stage. Some are only wide leafs.
Never one to give up, in the back yard, I planted forty glads. And now, I water them and I wait. I check each day. I watch for the first weed and I’m ready to attack.
Soon, it will be time to plant the vegetable garden once again. I have tomatoes, lettuce and onions started in the house.
This time, I’ll be ready for the robbins, rabbits, crows, slugs and even all the bugs. I’m even going to beat the elements. I’m ready for Mother Nature. I know about frost now. I know what to do.
This year, Josh and I will have lots of vegetables. Fresh from our own garden. Tomatoes, peas, lettuce, celery and carrots.
I wonder, if I could grow orchids out front. Or maybe, rose bushes? Flowers everywhere. I did succeed with tulips. Maybe out back, I could plant more tulips.
The dahlias aren’t going to grow, because I didn’t know they had to be taken up. They are dead.
But tulips everywhere! Triple rows. That’s what I’ll do.
- * * the end
Add your comment
You need to login or signup to add your comment to this work.