It's so exciting to see plants emerge from tiny seeds. I love seeing the
bulb flowers come up in the spring. The crocuses have been up for a couple
weeks now, but have yet to open. Tulips and hyacinths are begining to show
themselves. The pea seeds are swelling, but haven't broken open yet. I've
even spent a few afternoons digging weeds from the lawn. I have rhubarb,
bleeding heart, strawberries, and black raspberries on order. I can't wait
for early summer when I can plant my vegetable garden, and take cuttings
from my dad's gooseberry and the neighbors currents. Ah, the joys of
gardening.

When I was a little girl, we had a big vegetable garden. Every other year my
dad would get a truckload of manure and spread on it, which made the weeds
grow (and probably brought some seeds, too). On weekdays, we couldn't do
anything until we weeded a row of the garden, but somehow the weeds always
got away from us. (We probably weren't as persistant as we could have been)
What a challenge it was to find a vegetable plant in the weeds! It's funny
that although the weeds often took over, we had a bountiful harvest every
year.

My dad is also very proud of the berries and other things in his yard. When
the grandkids came along, he took special joy in taking them to the backyard
for some "candy". It was as often rhubarb and gooseberries as it was
raspberries or grapes, and they always loved it.

So, I guess, from my dad, the joy of gardening has rubbed off on me. It
drove me absolutely insane when I had to live in apartments for a few years.
I wanted to get my hands dirty! (and working on cars didn't count). College
and newlywed phase passed slowly in the summer. We finally bought a house,
and now I'm in heaven (well, the satisfaction of gardening is back, anyway).
I only have one problem, things don't grow as well here as they did at my
parents'. Oh, and I have to use city water to garden rather than irrigation
water. (My main problem with this, I think, is that I tend to want to
conserve city water more, and the plants don't seem to get enough).

Well, there you go. You've recieved a short story on gardening. I hope I
didn't bore anybody ;-)