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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Love of gardening gene... I was absent that day.

I don't like gardening. That is to say, I do love picking fresh tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs, zucchini, carrots... etc. And I love watching them grow and fill in the garden. I also love watching my flowers begin to bloom and fill the front of the house with color. However, I do NOT like to dig in the dirt. Nope. Not one bit.

I've heard many "green thumbs" say how much they love to get their hands in the soil and work it and feel it under their feet. I am not one of those people. I HATE getting dirt on my hands. I hate digging it out of my manicured fingernails. (Ok, manicured is a very loose term. I paint my nails about once a year, but I do keep them nicely smoothed and rounded. Ok, well I try to. Sometimes.)  And what I hate most is getting the garden ready to... well... garden.

Every spring when the weather is wet and rainy the grass grows and becomes thick and lush and green. It does that in my garden, too. And it's too wet to go out and dig it out while it's new, so by the time it's dry enough to go do some yard work the grass in my garden has grown a foot tall and is thick and firmly rooted.  The same goes for my flower garden. There is one patch that just won't stay free of grass. Grrrrr....

Today as I sat digging out the grass, digging deeply then pulling hard with both hands, dirt spraying all over my face, in my hair, down my shirt, into my shoes, on my legs. Well, I wasn't loving it. I thought about how little kids will sit in a dirt pile and pour dirt on their heads and laugh. Well you know what? I don't think it's funny! And I didn't do that as a child. I'm sure of it! (However, I did eat dirt, but that's an entirely different thing. I still sometimes smell it and remember how good it tasted. No, I haven't eaten it since I was at least 5!)

But, I just have to remind myself how good those home-grown tomatoes will taste, and how pretty those flowers will look, and how I won't have to duck my head in shame as I leave my house and see my grass over-grown garden and see my neighbor's perfectly hand-clipped and trimmed yard. At least I'll have some pretty veggies and flowers to show off. 

Incidentally, my son decided yesterday to go out while I was at the grocery store and weed some of the garden for me so I didn't have to do it all today. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? And I didn't even ask him to do it! He said it was because he wanted to do what Jesus would have him do. That just melted my whole dirt-encrusted heart!!!!

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