A Little Green Thumb

I'm going to start my story off on a tangent. I have crippling social anxiety and just plain ole' anxiety, so I never thought I'd be on my laptop sharing my hobbies with the Internet.

I've always been pretty scatter-brained when it comes to things, doing things on a whim. If it wasn't the Saxophone, it was trying to start a band and playing guitar or drawing. In High School I decided one day I wanted a tomato and jalapeno plant. That stemmed from "why not" and that we made salsa almost daily growing up.

Did you know if you planted a tomato and jalapeno plant next to each other that they can cross-pollinate? It was so awesome to me when I had these weird little fruits. A slightly deformed, red-ish jalapeno that wasn't really spicy and had a hint of tomato; and tomatoes that started the usual bulbous but then tapered to a slight point and were spicy. It was so cool! I never bothered to learn how to keep the plants alive for more than a few months, I was only enamored with the neat fruit the plants produced.

I grew tomatoes and jalapenos occasionally throughout the years, but I would always give up and go to something different that caught my eye. Like trying to crochet, which I'm horrible at by the way. I never kept with things long.

I became a stay at home mom when I had my son. I couldn't really go out and do the things I used to with a newborn, so I turned to reading. A nineteen week streak and seventy-two titles later I realized I might have had an unhealthy obsession. After that I opted to try things that my son could do with me. We found out he loved to paint, but what child wouldn't love a reason to make a fun mess?

As the past few years went by, and many paper plate paintings later, the want for a garden slowly crept up. I kept telling my husband "One day I'm going to have a garden", and him working in the lawn care industry it was a "Hah, no". He had some crazy notion he'd be the one to do all the hard work, though in the end he wasn't wrong.

It all started with a random trip to Lowe's, because again, why not? I returned home with my little treasures, two tomato plants, a strawberry plant and some peppers. I think every time he came home and saw me with another pot with a plant he wanted to chunk the plant. I can't say how many times we've went to Lowe's and he would say I could look, but no more plants! I'd beam with joy on the occasion he would say "go ahead and pick one".

I don't remember why I even wanted a garden in the first place, but soon I had tons of pots with fruits and vegetables in them. Our son absolutely loved helping me pick on plants and hold the "baby plants". He would follow me around in hopes for a strawberry. If a fruit comes out of that garden, you best bet you're sharing with him or else you'll break his little heart. It was always easy to give up on things before, but this time, I couldn't stop.

Tending to my many plants, seeing how they grow and how cool they are, it's so mesmerizing. There's something new each day. There was just something so soothing about taking something so tiny and helping it grow into this wondrous plant.

As my garden grew, so did the little bumps in the way. The kids playing with the plants, pulling on the leaves. The dogs peeing on and jumping in the garden. My little four by four garden with a plastic barrier was not cutting it anymore.

So this is where that work my husband was dreading came in again. We, mostly meaning he, got some cute metal fence posts and made a gate around my garden. You can imagine how angry it made my son he couldn't come in the garden, but it doesn't stop him from sneaking in when the gate door is open.

I never imagined I could be so proud, so thrilled about my plants, how soothing it is to care for them. My son especially loves helping me when my vegetables are ready to pick. It's been such a fun hobby for him and I, for him to get excited over the tomatoes or green beans.

I have so many joys in my life, but none more than my kids, and our garden that brings us excitement and happiness.