Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell-- July 22. 2008

Good News - Bad News-
Bad News- Joe Spence had to have a new valve replaced in his heart- Good news- he is doing fine and is recovering quite nicely.
Bad News Joe is out of town and the townspeople are worried if they are going to be able to get some of his wonderful tomatoes- Good news- yes, they will be able to get the produce as it becomes available- Bad News- I am take care of the garden- I have the rare ability to kill any living plant known to mankind- good news- I have help, not with the killing-but with the watering - consulting- picking and whatever else needs to be done - Hopefully they have better gardening skills than I do.
I just do not understand why some people can grow things while the rest of us can not grow mold. I have three; I started with four, tomato plants. When I got them they were pretty and nice. Thinking that I would be smart, I planted each one in their very own planter. I thought they were growing and looking good- until I went into Joe’s garden. His are about four to five feet tall and are producing tomatoes. Mine are about two and half feet tall and have three puny little tomatoes. I do not think they have the will to ripen. While Joes are grwong quickly and are fat- plump and ripening to a beautiful bright red. I do not try any other vegetable- there is no point in wasting the time, the energy and the water to kill some poor, innocent plant. One time, many years ago I had a lovely garden and the grasshoppers ate it up in two days. I found that to be very discouraging- I guess there are two types of people in this world- growers and consumers- I am definitely a consumer. My Grandma Cary and I am told that Grandma Alley were extra good gardeners- they could grow anything and they liked to eat what they planted- Aunt Zora (Dads sister) could grow flowers on a cement slab. She had the knack of knowing just what to do to make the plant want to live. Dad liked to try to garden but his heart was not completely committed to the cause. Uncle David was another one who could really makes the soil and seed do what he wanted them to do. He was a very good farmer - he had a way about him that worked well.
I just hope that Joe gets back on his feet and can enjoy the fruits of his labor- literally. And I hope that he will still be talking to me when this is all over and done with.

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