The Garden Before the Dream Comes True

When we moved here last August, I wasn’t daunted by the weeds in the garden, taller than I am or not.  The wood chips from the tree that fell down in the yard before we came?  Thrilling.  The metal posts in two rows at the north end of the garden?  Great idea.  All I’ll need for some berries or green beans or cucumbers or squash or….will be some string.

We started the compost pile right away, down in the corner, on top of the weeds.  As it turns out, on top of the rocks, too.

As we met the people who had just moved out—rare for renters, I know—I wondered if it would be awkward.  It wasn’t.

We exchanged the usual questions, plus some specific to the house:

Where did you move from?  Michigan. 

Really?  I have a sister from your town. 

Really?  What’s her name?  Oh, yes, we know who she is.

We’re sorry we didn’t till the garden this summer.  My husband broke his arm, and couldn’t do it.

That’s fine.  We’ll get it done come spring.

The soil has a lot of rocks.

It does have a lot of rocks.  A friend told me earlier this week that the man who plowed her garden gave her this encouragement:  “This soil will grow anything.  The rocks are just hard on the implements.”

Encouraged, but still having it ingrained in me that I must pick rocks out of a garden, I’ll likely continue filling my gallon bucket as I’m out working in the air and soil.

Some of the weeds are so woody that they need to be clipped instead of pulled.  I'm just not big enough to get the leverage I'd need to actually pull them out of the ground.

As I’ve begun clearing weeds and picking out rocks, I’ve taken a few photos with my phone.  They don’t come anywhere near to masterpieces, but they do show a before, while the glorious after is still only in my mind.  I thought I’d share the record with you, in a place where I can look back and be encouraged at how far the garden really has come.