Thoughs on gardening and weather...

I love to garden! I love growing food! My grandparents grew lots of food to feed their families. Of course they were not alone in their endeavor, many, maybe even most families a generation or two ago grew gardens and planted fruit trees. Those previous  generations were barely removed from the days when most of our nation were farmers or very closely connected to farming.  

But gardening skipped a generation in my family. My mother did not garden, not flowers, fruit or vegetables. She and her siblings grew up with a mother who tried everything to supplement her family; vegetables, fruit, grapes, berries, chickens, goats, rabbits, even chinchillas! My mother said her mother had such a green thumb that she would plant a seed while talking to the neighbor just by pushing a little soil around with her foot and not even looking down from her conversation! There were times when all they had to eat was what was grown and persevered by their mother.  My mother nor any of her siblings ever gardened, in fact the other three all had gardeners most of their lives to take care of their yards (my Dad did the yard work at our house).

That's not to say my mother didn't encourage us to garden. My sister and I planted gardens and our mother was always our cheering section, cooking any morsel we could coax out of the ground! She even bought a subscription to "Organic Gardening Magazine" for us when we were in high school.  

Because of my obsession with gardening I'm always checking the weather forecast. On my computer Front Page I have the option to list the weather from many locations. I have included the weather where each of my children live. I have a daughter in Houston, Texas, a daughter in Pasco, Washington, a daughter in Brigham City, Utah, a daughter in Lebanon, Oregon and one in frigid Idaho! (Yes that's five daughters!) Our son recently moved back home while he's going to school, it's cheaper that way, for him that is! I also have listed Craig, Alaska where one of my sisters lives, and gardens!. I used to list our home town in southern California but that was always depressing because the weather is always good there, a person can garden/farm year round! My father-in-law called it "paradise", and he was right.  

Three of my daughters live in apartments and are only able to have "house plants", I'm quite sure they will all garden when given the chance, they were always involved and enjoyed helping at home. My son is a different story, the generation skipped Mr. Green Jeans, and may also skip "The Boy". Mr. Green Jeans does not like to garden though his father always grew a huge garden after he retired from full time farming. 
 
When the kids were home we had a large garden with lots of long rows of vegetables, and weeds! A few years ago I built raised beds and began to garden that way, and I love it! That method can make a gardener out of anyone. The small areas can be quickly turned and planted with hand tools and the bounty is tremendous for such a small area. Vegetables are closer together and seem to thrive in the well worked soil. I have a ready supply of well rotted manure from my animals and it's easy to work into the soil as needed. If you don't have your own manure Walmart sells composted steer manure very reasonable, less than $2 a bag and it works great also. No need to buy the expensive stuff.  

One of the advantages of growing a garden is having fresh food available in your own backyard. My kids grew up eating lots of veggies because they were right there for them to pick and eat, now my grandson is enjoying the same benefit. When he was still crawling he would crawl around the garden while my daughter worked and "sample" the veggies. Kids learn early that vegetables are fun to pick and eat!