If you plant it, it will grow... or not!

I want to be a gardener. I really do.

It seems pretty intuitive ~ lay some dirt, dig some holes, plant some seeds or plants, water them, harvest food, enjoy some food you grew yourself and maybe have a little to put away for winter. Except, it doesn't work this way for me.

Ever.

For two years, we worked to establish a garden in the back of our yard. So. Much. Work. Shoveling, hauling, dumping, spreading, shoveling, hauling, dumping, spreading.... over and over again. The first year, out of everything planted, we got tomatoes. Just tomatoes. The second year, we got nothing. Nada. Zilch.

The next two years I didn't even bother. Oh, I wanted to. But, I couldn't bring myself to fight it. I realized the location wasn't right and moving the garden felt like too huge a task. It made me sad though. I felt like we were wasting an opportunity or missing out somehow.

This spring my hubby surprised me by building some new raised beds from scrap lumber in the garage. He knows that deep down I really want to make this work. Presented with this gesture from him, we set out to try again.

It was no easy task, but we relocated the garden to a sunnier spot. I researched companion planting. I made a planting grid that closely resembled a wedding reception seating chart ~ "Tomatoes don't like beans but they love peppers. Broccoli and cauliflower can be kind of picky but cucumbers love almost everyone." Once we had a plan, we planted the garden and let me tell you something ~

It. Looked. AMAZING!!! We were all so excited and I just knew THIS was going to be the year.

And then, the chipmunks arrived.

I'm pretty sure my children heard new (and maybe not completely appropriate) words because of those blasted creatures! The dug up every single seedling just before it broke through the surface. Every one. Except the radishes, thank you very much. The chipmunks and I went to war, and because I am higher on the food chain than they are, I came out on top.

Or so I thought.

We replanted and salvaged what we could and for a while I was lulled into thinking we had turned a corner with our garden. We had some salads with our own lettuce. The radishes went wild. Bean, cucumber, and pepper plants were growing and showing promising signs of great production. We even found one lone watermelon sprout that had escaped the seedling radar of the chipmunks.

And then, I found my first red, ripe tomato. I picked it feeling full of hope, promise, and accomplishment.  Until I saw the bite already taken out of the bottom of it. I turned around to throw it over our back fence and noticed another tomato already on the ground, half eaten. I started looking around my garden and noticed more half eaten food. Then I saw a chipmunk run back under the deck.

#*&$^#*#*$&#*$!!!!!

When we planted the garden this year, we prayed and asked God to teach us more about life and our relationship with Him through our experience. That prayer has definitely been answered. Now that you know the beginning of the story, I would love to share some of those lessons with you in future posts.

In the meantime, you can find me supporting our local farmers at the farmer's markets. Apparently, I've been feeding all the chipmunks over here so their crops can grow in abundance!

“Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce." Jeremiah 29:5