I Am My Own Person

I was talking to someone about my garden this evening. I told this person that I planned on letting the front of the garden go to weeds for the remainder of the summer, now that the onions and the lettuce were done. I am going to just focus on hoeing and weeding the back of the garden, where my tomatoes and the watermelon plant are growing. I also told this person I planned on planting garlic this fall. I love garlic, so I'm excited to have it ready for use in the spring!

After I finish telling this person all of this, she says that since the garden is so much work, I should just plant grass in that area of my yard and be done with it. When I told her I intended to plant my garden again next year, she made some comment about how I wasn't really serious about gardening and that I shouldn't bother.

I AM 1,000 PERCENT SERIOUS ABOUT MY GARDEN!!!!!

I have found gardening to be a great way to relieve stress. I get great joy out of using my own two hands to grown my own food. I get great satisfaction from eating the veggies from my garden.

I can't understand why this person can't just be supportive of my gardening endeavors. This is not an altogether new thing for me. When I was in 5th grade, I somehow got a packet of carrot seeds. I planted the carrot seeds at the edge of our backyard, near the creek that ran behind our house. Needless to say, the carrots did not grow. When I lived in my apartment, I grew tomatoes in a pot. I have always wanted to grow my own food (and make my own cheese, but alas I need a cow for that).

This has become a passion for me. Its a lot of work, but it is very rewarding to me. I am already trying to figure out how to cut down on the weeds for next year. I'm also trying to plan exactly what I want to plant (I'm thinking cucumbers and zucchinis in addition to the tomatoes and onions). And I'm planning on planting my basil and other fresh herbs in small pots that I can keep in the kitchen during the winter. I just love fresh basil and can't imagine going back!

The best thing about every person on this planet is that we are all individuals. I am my own person. I happen to enjoy gardening.

Itchy and Scratchy

I managed to pick up a nasty case of poison ivy. Apparently, it is growing in my front flower bed. I weeded the bed with my bare hands (dumb, I know) a week ago. I noticed these bumps, but thought nothing of it. On Thursday, the itching was unbearable and the bumps were starting to look like blisters. Having never had poison before, I consulted with a few people on my softball team and at work, who confirmed my suspicion.

The itching was terrible Thursday night. I finally sought help online. I tried just about everything, until I fell upon the best cure for the itching: a hair dryer. I turn the hair dryer on and aim it at my blisters. It produces this odd feeling of pleasure and pain, then kills the need to itch for hours at a time.

I went to the doctor on Friday, after I discovered the poison had spread to my face, neck and legs. I was given a prescription for some steriod cream and told I would have to get a shot if the cream didn't work. The doctor was not amused with my hair dryer technique and yelled at me for putting rubbing alcohol on my spots, as this will result in giving me excezma. Yum.

I'm hopeful that I've turned a corner, as the spots on my bad arm aren't nearly as bad as they were yesterday. The poison spread again to my chest, but I'm hoping that changing my towels after every shower will stop that.

Needless to say, I can't do any gardening until the poison clears up. I did tie some stakes around my tomato plants (I have 7 with tomatoes on them). I also noticed that my watermelon has little flowers on it. This apparently means that in another month or so, I will have watermelons. Yeah!

The motherload of onions are done. If anyone wants onions, please let me know. I have so many!