Tuesday, May 10, 2011

For Shame

"She skulked silently into the room, praying she would remain unnoticed.  Her eyes scanned the table buried in stacks of books, tools, and plants at the front of the room .  She had been here before and it was always painful.  Why did she come tonight?  She knew she wasn't going to do it this year, just like she hadn't done it for the past eight years.  Were all these people really that much smarter than her?  Could they tell she didn't belong there?  Her guilt engulfed her and she could only hope that the hour would pass without any tears."

Can you guess where I went this evening?  It was a gardening class over at the church. 

What is my problem?  I say that I'm too busy growing children to grow a garden, but really-- people have children and have gardens!  I dealt with my pain by making notes about my blog post this evening rather than notes about where to "buy" my dirt from.  After I actually asked out loud where to get dirt from, I realized just how RIDICULOUS I was.  I shut up after that. 

The ward's resident master gardeners were very gracious and really did a very nice job.  It's not their fault that I was in the class.  There were people there who could speak their language-- you know-- garden talk.  Conversations about nitrogen, fertilizer, pesticides, spacing, watering systems, planting schedules. 

I have two goals I must accomplish before I turn 50.  I will grow a respectable garden and I will learn to sew.  Gracious Day!-- Caroline Ingalls wouldn't even give me the time of day.  And I call myself a homemaker.  For shame.

3 comments:

Mothership said...

A garden needs love. If you don't love it, it won't grow. No, I'm not kidding. DO NOT beat yourself up over this. You are amazing and if you really feel like you must grow a garden, then do it. But I'm telling you, you have to either love it or be stubborn and determined not to give up (or give in to the weeds).

Another idea is to start small. Get a strawberry pot and plant six strawberry plants. Or buy one large container and plant a few different kinds of lettuce--then make a salad with your produce (it's hard to screw up lettuce). Next year, buy another container and try herbs or radishes. If you till up your back yard and plant it all in vegetables, the crop will fail and you will hate gardening forever.

The End . . .
For Now . . .
Love,
Your Gardening Friend (:

jkmilligan said...

Betsy you make me laugh. We have a garden because I married a farmer who grew up with HUGE gardens. Our garden is tiny compared to the ones he is used to. He has taught me some things about gardening, but honestly we would not have one if it weren't for him. I like to help plant, but that's about it. I don't like to weed, I don't like bugs, I don't like to harvest the vegetables because once again I don't like bugs. The garden is left completely to him, unless he asks me to water it (that I can handle).:)

Baden said...

Please, please don't plant a garden. You homeschool 7 kids, you are the primary president, you teach piano lessons, your kids are involved in all sorts of activities...etc...etc. I want to be you when I grow up, but if you plant a garden as well, then I am just going to lay down and give up! All kidding aside, I think Caroline Ingalls would be proud of you any day!