Gardening, my third passion

Gardening or growing anything is my third passion.  I love to garden.  I can hardly wait until spring when I can play in the dirt.  I live in a small town up in the Rocky Mountains on the edge of the Bob Marshall wilderness.  The growing season is very short with only 43 frost free days (so the books say) but I usually get a frost every month and sometimes snow with it.  I am pretty limited in what I can grow and even the cold weather crops don't always make it.  I have been in tears many times when in August everything is froze and gone.  None the less I love my garden.  I love planning a new garden arrangement every year and even though my brother Mike does not understand it, I do not always plant in rows.  I ove getting the soil ready for planting, the planting, and yes even the weeding.  It is all so good!

I have been gardening every since I was a small girl.  My father was the gardener of the family except for the flowers and herbs which my mother cared for.  Dad gave me a small three by three piece of dirt to make a rock garden.  I would go to the woods and bring back wild flowers for my rock garden.  I always wanted to be like my dad and harvest the vegies and take them in for mom to can or freeze.  That is the only part of growing I do not like, the putting up part.  I love the produce in the freezer or on the shelves but I hate being inside on a beautiful summer day canning. As I have often said, "I want a wife."

So how does this all lead to my activity book?  I think I will reveal that in my next blog.  Check back for the rest of the story.