Farmer Dave

"They used to grow food in Kansas. Now they want to grow it on the moon and eat it raw. I can see the day coming when even a home garden is gonna be against the law."
-Bob Dylan

One of the arguments I used to talk myself into buying a house last spring was the picture of myself on a hot summer's day, peacefully sitting in my garden and producing a healthy crop. I could see myself in my mind's eye, winding down after a hard day at the office, tilling the soil, carefully weeding, conscientiously watering and enjoying the fruits (or vegetables) of my own hard labor.

When my friend heard this she burst out laughing. She just couldn't picture it.

In retrospect I would be the first to admit that some of the thinking that went into my house buying decision making was me being my typical sort of flaky, sort of think things through and hope for the best, things will somehow turn out self. But deciding to have a garden doesn't fall into that category. Sure it has been a burden on certain long days when I'll come home and the last thing I want to do is sit outside fighting the bugs, battling the onslaught of my newest mortal enemy, Creeping Charlie (he's everywhere, keeps popping up and sticks around forever). But there is something soothing about being in the world of my garden, the subculture, that is most certainly therapeutic.

Plus you can't beat the end result.

The last few weeks I have greatly enjoyed a bushel of fresh vegetables. First it was the peas and beans. This past weekend I got some jumbo cucumbers and cherry tomatoes. Not that I'm biased or anything, but they are the best damn tasting vegetables I've ever had! Man, are those boys tasty! And I ain't no veggie virgin either. I have reached the stage in my Yuppiedum where a big old salad sounds much more appealing to me than a hunk of T-bone steak.

I've even learned some things in the process. When I started planting last spring I was skeptical that anything would grow so I went with the theory the more stuff I planted the more of a chance that I would end up with something. So I just sort of scattered as many seeds as I could the best I could. To my surprise nearly everything grew. I've had more peas this summer than the rest of my life combined. Lesson #1: have faith that things will grow. Plant things conservatively and you won't end up with a jungle.

Upon further reflection, I must have been sipping on the old whiskey when I planted things last spring. The rows aren't exactly straight, they are more like smiley faces. Thus the cucumbers are intertwining with the tomatoes and it is hard to tell where exactly the peas end. Lesson #2: be meticulous in planting things in rows, giving yourself room to maneuver in the garden.

The hardest part however has been the mixture I have with the perennials growing next to my vegetables. Since I wasn't exactly sure what perennials to expect, I had an even harder time than I normally would in determining what was a weed and what was a plant. After all in the overall grand scheme of things is there really a difference? Isn't my little garden just a microcosm of the bigger world where some of us are weeds just trying to survive against our more established and recognized and respected peers? Lesson #3: gardening is great for getting philosophical.

And with the newsletter growing in new, bigger and better directions every week, I would be amiss in reporting that the very first newsletter I edited was for the Minnesota Horticultural Society. I applied for the job solely on my journalism background and that I had access to a computer. I knew even less about that subject than I do the subjects covered in these pages, but looking back the seeds of what has sprung here were most certainly planted way back then. With the right fertilizer most anything will grow.