GARDENER

: a person who is engaged in the development and a garden

If you know me, you'd never use the word "gardener" to describe me. When we bought this house, we inherited roughly 10 vegetable and flower beds. It's a small plot of urban land to house such vegetation and to say that it died a slow death at the hands of J and I would be the kindest description. We finally gave in a few months ago and paid someone to kill what was left and plant grass. We figure we might be able to manage that.

But today, I am dreaming big. I met with Farmer Jason, who is going to help me plant a vegetable garden in the back yard. The first summer we lived in this home, we followed the vegetable garden footprint of the previous owner and planted tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini and cucumbers. It went OK, but the weeds were more than I had planned for and I had no knowledge or past experience to help me when certain plants died or languished instead of thriving. I was frankly thankful for the summer to come to an end and to dismantle the beds and let grass take over. I am hoping Farmer Jason will change all of that.

For a nominal fee (less than I would spend to participate in a CSA over the summer), he will prepare my garden, buy and bring in soil/compost, plant my veggies and check in with me over the summer to make sure all is going well. He said to think of him as a gardening coach, which I am happy to do.

While I recall not-so-fondly the weeds that invaded my vegetable beds years ago, I have lovely memories of watching the tomato blossoms turn into small green, then large green and, finally, lovely red orbs that exploded with flavor in our mouths. A & B were young, but I remember them walking in from the back yard with baskets of tomatoes plucked fresh from the vines. If they enjoyed the process then, when guided by a mother ignorant of all things gardening, I am nearly giddy with excitement at what we will experience together this summer. They are old enough to help plant, water, harvest and cook our veggies.

Did you notice I said "cook"? My mouth starts salivating as I imagine tomato tart, fresh bruschetta, homemade salsa and countless other treats our family will enjoy. So while I'm no gardener, I'm hoping Farmer Jason will work his mojo and turn me in to one. As we sorted through seed packets today and I started talking enthusiastically about all of the yummy things I would cook with the bounty from these little packets, he told me I was the perfect candidate for this type of project. I do hope he's right!