Today I am planting our garden with my dad. I don’t mind gardening, in fact I enjoy it to a certain extent, but I have a tendency to kill plants. Most of my horticultural endeavors have not turned out well. I like the work though: the planting, the weeding, the picking, and the cleaning. It keeps me busy for most of the summer if I am attentive.

We are also going to be planting two cherry trees, two apple trees, and an Asian pear tree soon, too. We planted two peach trees and a cherry tree last year, but the deer destroyed our cherry tree. We also have three full grown apple trees, but one is almost entirely dead and another is starting to die so we need to replace them. One apple tree will be the same as what we already grow (Haralson), which was planted by my grandfather. The other is going to be a dwarf 4-in-1 tree. The only apples I eat fresh are the ones from my backyard so planting these trees is of particular importance to me.

I also need to weed the strawberry patch and transplant a cottonwood today. When I was younger I avoided helping in the garden as much as possible. I hated the bugs and the heat. Now, I think my father is growing tired of my ambitious plans for the yard. I want to start a raspberry patch and plant a hazelnut tree, but those may have to wait another year.

I think part of my love for gardening is I like being at home and being self sufficient to a certain extent. We grind our own flour, bake our own bread, and basically live off our garden during the late summer. I like knowing that my hands helped produce what I eat. Eating is more of a celebration for me when I have watched the plants grow and picked it with my own hands. I have the same feeling towards cooking my own food.

Later tonight I am going fishing. Hopefully I finally catch something (fishing is another thing I don’t have a great record with). If nothing else it will be nice to sit by the water and practice my casting.