Confessions of a Slothful Gardener

In recent comments I have had someone tell me I am their hero and people applaud all that we do here on the farm. I have people send me emails after reading our blog or reading our web page and tell us that we are living their dream, etc. I really do think that living on a farm and heating with wood, etc. is somewhat romanticized in our minds. I know it was in mine anyway. When I blog, I tend to share the funny, the good, the blessings and the positive side of our lives. Who wants to hear about all our aches and pains and trials and troubles. We do have them though and they are very real. Mrs. Wonderful Neighbor and I were talking one day and the comment was made jokingly that she notices I cut out a lot of the not so pretty side of my farm in my pictures. I agreed with her. That is a true statement. I could show you what I look at out my front window. It is not pretty. It is our shop barn with a shed roof all the way around 3 sides. It has lots of junk underneath that shed roof.

I realize that on a farm, you are never done. That may be true of anywhere. Our cows are held in by a single wire. That works well most of the time. However, they KNOW when it is off and then we have to call the Cow Patrol (The Wonderful Neighbor family) to come and help get them back in. Our charger for the wire was zapped in a recent electrical storm. We have a new one on order that should be here tomorrow. We ran to TSC (Tractor Supply Co.) and got a cheap one in the mean time. The cows know it is not strong. They have been sneaking out. So fences wear out, chargers are fried by lightning, troughs spring a leak, etc. However, there is more to this than just those types of things. Some of it is self inflicted.

God only gave us one child and we are so grateful for him. He is now 23 and still lives here. He does help occasionally, but he has his own business and it takes lots of time. I can see that having lots of children when living on a farm is a true blessing. I have been blue for 3 weeks. I am not sure why, it has just been there in the background. I think part of my problem is some empty nest issue. Yes, Joshua is still here, but not through the daytime. Summer is a busy time for everyone, so I don't get as many visits from friends with their children. I don't get as many helpers because they are busy at home. I am lonely. I am not complaining, but just stating facts. Now, that I have recognized part of the problem, I need to thank God for this stage of my life and ask Him for the grace to walk through it.

Now on to the garden issue. Last year we were not milking a cow through the summer. This year, my husband is milking each evening. He and I used to go out in the garden together in the evenings and weed and pick produce and sometimes just check on things. This year, he does not have much time for that. I start to go out in the mornings before it gets too hot. I do a little bit and then wish for someone to talk to or something and end up coming back in and putting some music on or something and doing things in the house. It is no fun working in the garden by yourself. However, that is where I am at in life and I need to move forward with it anyway. The following pictures are of what my garden looks like today. It is pathetic. Some of the weeds are taller than I am. It shows my slothfulness at its very worst. The first picture is looking down the tomato pepper rows. It is the least weedy part of the whole garden. In some of the other pictures you can see the corn up above the weeds in the back and in another picture is one lone sunflower that has not bloomed yet. There are beans that need picked somewhere in this mess. I am ashamed, but I am being honest. We will probably keep up with the tomatoes and peppers and check on the corn, but everything else is pretty much dead. I need to do a smaller garden next year and do it as unto the Lord.







One little bright spot I did find out there was this Queen Anne's Lace. It reminded me of little snowflakes.