Gardening

I never would have thought when I was a young man that I would get into gardening.  Traveling the world jumping out of airplanes and blowing things up is lots of fun.  A garden requires tending in order to thrive.  I retired in 2004.  One day I read an article about straw bale gardening and thought "that sounds easy enough" and bought a hay bale.  The article had a very elaborate method to prepare the bales...but that is not what I did...I did nothing and after several months bought a tomato plant and just stuffed it in the hay bale.  I watered the heck out of it.  It grew like crazy.  So one hay bale became five and I was reminded how good home grown tastes...by the end of the season my rube Goldberg trellis was falling down and my hay bales were almost completely disintegrated but the plants were saying "feed me Seymour"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU
  The next season I decided to be a bit more scientific and made raised beds.  The first was just boards around the decayed hay bales 5'x5' the next was a 10'x10' we also had a bunch of plants in pots.  That season was very bountiful but the geese ate a lot and my wife won't let me snipe them off the back porch.  So I built a fence...a big fence.  We put a few raised beds along the fence line...4'x50', 4'x10, 4'x12' and had two conventional in the ground plots outside the wire in goose country, 20'x50' and 30'x30'.  This was getting crazy.  At some point it shifts from gardening to agriculture.  Someone suggested "you should sell at the farmers market" so we did.  My son and I would wake up early and harvest, drive to the market and set out the vegetables of our labor. 
  I like gardening, I like playing in the dirt, I don't really like eating vegetables and some of the customers were goofy.  "I’ll give you 27 cents for that"...when it was marked as 30 cents.  I did not need the money and the person bargaining did not either they were just bored retirees looking for entertainment early on a Saturday.  What do I do with all of the un-purchased veggies?  The local extension agent suggested the local food pantry.  It was then that I was introduced to the Breadbasket.  They prepare a hot meal Monday through Friday for people, free of charge, and free of judgment.  I started giving vegetables and time.  Wow how gratifying!  I am an idiot and at times find myself judging rather than just serving.  The wonder woman who honchos the place really likes the herbs and spices I bring, rosemary, mint, basil, cayenne peppers and cilantro.  We quit selling to the farmers market...Saturday mornings are meant for sleeping, flying, fishing and other activities that retirees like myself engage in...so far I have not discovered the delight of shopping.
  I have found joy in gardening.  I try to be as organic as possible.  Companion gardening, intercropping, top soil preservation, pruning, mulching and other topics are all very deep.  God teaches me about His nature through the garden.  I learn many lessons about myself through my interaction with nature.  My favorite gardening tool is still the flamethrower.  My wife is teaching me to enjoy eating vegetables.