I Never Promised You a Tomato Garden

I am not a gardener. I know many people who love to garden, take care of their lawns, plant flowers, and so on. These people include my neighbors on both sides. I am not one of them. The house my wife and I purchased ten years ago was owned by a landscape architect. The lawn, shrubs, trees, and flower gardens were immaculate when we moved it. They are not anymore. My wife and I simply don't have the time or interest to keep up all the maintenance involved in having a beautiful lawn and flower gardens. I like to cut the grass about every three weeks. My neighbors tell me the landscape architect cut the grass every three days.

We have a nice plot for a vegetable garden, but we've never found the time to plant and cultivate a garden. I take that back. A few years ago, we did plant a tomato bush out there and harvested some nice tomatoes in July and August. Right now the area could be best described as a weed garden. Some of the weeds have pretty flowers. So I guess we could call it a natural flower garden. Why not?

This summer my wife and I have made a goal to get the lawn in shape, fight back the weeds, trim the shrubs, and have a nice little vegetable garden. The mere thought of doing all this in the hot, humid Indiana summer makes me feel exhausted and sweaty. By August we'll know if we have been able to keep with it and reach our goal. I wouldn't bet on it though.