Here we go...

There is nothing better than veggies fresh from a garden.  A few summers ago I went to pick up the girls from my parents house after work and ate an entire plate of peppers and cucumbers with homemade ranch dressing.  The veggies had been picked that day.  You can't get that taste from a grocery store.  You can't get simple tomato juice from a grocery store.  My girls love to check on the strawberries and eat them straight off the plant.  Those are memories they will have forever.

My parents have always had a garden.  It was always my dad's pride.  He would spend hours out there with that old tiller getting the ground just right.  We've used this same space of land for so long, there probably aren't many rocks left in it.  He would till, and weed, and chuck the rocks.  Bent over for hours in the sun.  But time and illness have taken this from my dad.  He can't get out there and push that tiller around like he use to.  He started some seeds last year in an indoor green house and that's as far as they got.  That's when I made the decision that we would get this garden going this year.

Here is why we are doing this garden at their house:
This is my parent's house and land

This is our house and land

As you can see, the garden area my parents have is bigger than my back yard!  So, we are going to do this together.  At least that is the plan.  I'm not a fan of hot weather and the sun hates my skin.  But, we are going to be share croppers and master canners this summer. 

My dad will be in charge of homeland security, aka, deer and rodent control.  Any evening at their house you can find raccoons or opossums on their back porch.  The cat kills field mice and moles all day long.  There are usually at least 3 deer that sleep in the back field area and use the garden as their own.

If this garden is a success, my next venture will be to tear down an old shed (in between the pool and the garden) and build my mom a chicken coop.  I'm not sure how my dad would feel about that, but who doesn't want fresh eggs?