The life of an aspiring gardener

For over a year now, I have been desirous to learn how to garden.

If you know my family, you may be thinking, "What? Isn't your house the one with the HUGE garden? You don't know how to plant a flower and make it grow?"

And I must be honest and answer....no. I don't. My mom spends hours upon hours in her garden -- planting, weeding, picking off dried buds -- and my dad spends less time but just as much effort in his vegetable garden -- hoeing, planting, watering, picking. As a little girl, though, it was very nearly PUNISHMENT to be made to plant onions, or pull weeds, or pick raspberries, or turn off the sprinklers (I didn't want to get wet!).

But now I'm thinking ahead -- to the days when I will tend my own home. You can imagine that, when I picture this home, it is NOT a barren lot of dirt. It has flowers! And peach trees! And blueberries! And... a paid gardener? Umm, I don't think so. So it's time to start learning.

Beginning next week, I will start my garden, in this location that my mom has already begun clearing for me:

Well, I should say that she's begun clearing it of weeds. There are still some large "weeds" to be taken care of. We'll enlist my dad's help for those. The gardening area is the dirt mound beneath the trees, just behind the trailer and whatnot.

I have no idea how I'll begin, but I'm confident in my mom's ability to teach me.

It'll be an adventure!