I'm a Grownup!

You know how you never really feel like an adult when your folks are around? No matter what adult responsibilities you handle on a day-to-day basis, to your parents you are always a child, and some part of you always feels like a child when they are around.
Twice now in the last month, my father has made me feel like a real live grownup. The first time was when we went berry picking and I aborted the mission before it really got started. Normally I would expect dad to be grumpy about someone "whining" over something so small (and quite frankly, something I should have expected) being the cause of a cancelled foraging trip. He didn't. Instead, he commented that he knew how bad I reacted to those bites and got me home as quick as he could.

Then while we were in the garden yesterday, I was talking about the different half-baked plans I have for the garden next year. I asked his opinion on what he thought I should do about something, and he told me that I have been doing great so far so whatever I thought I wanted to try was okay with him. I couldn't believe it. I don't know if I have really said much about this, but the last year has been the first year that I really gardened seriously. I have had gardens before, both flowers and vegetables, but I never really put any thought or work into them. I would get caught up in the planting frenzy of spring, but when the hot weather hit I had a million other things to do. Who wants to sweat it out in the garden, anyway? So in all reality, I have very little practical gardening knowledge. My dad, on the other hand, has always had a garden. He usually takes pretty good care of them, too. So here I was, asking for his "expert opinion", and my dad tells me: " You have been trying some things that I never would have thought to try, and 90% of them are working out great. Anything you want to try is alright with me". You have to understand that, from my dad, this is about as high of praise as you can receive.

I feel wonderful.



This, by the way, is today's haul from the veggie patch. The cabbage weighs in at about 3 lbs, as does the bag of beans. The banana peppers and greens are the first of the season, but there are many more on the plants. Also shown are three small kohlrabi. I planted them too close together, and then didn't thin properly, so I had to take these out small to make room for the others. I am so excited about my goodies. Yee-haw!