"Nomaters"

My niece Shelley, my great nephew Landon's mom, sent me an email last night about her garden and how she will hate it when the time comes for the garden to die out. I fully understand how she feels. Part of it is that Landon loves his "nomaters" and he loves to pick them to eat.

You might find that strange but this little boy loves his garden as much as he loves to eat vegetables. He is a joy to have at a table and he is very articulate and smart.
I am a little bit prejudiced when it comes to Landon.

Next season, I intend to get him some little gloves for the garden and a small garden hat to protect his blond head and blue eyes. He is what everybody considers the all American boy and so was his dad, Jake. Jake was my first little blond, blue eyed boy that had my heart and his son Landon certainly has it now.

Next winter, yes winter, we will start tomato, bell pepper, squash and bean seeds. I want to be able to spend the first weekend after tax season planting the boxes in the garden. I have grow lights left over from one of my boys' science projects. I will start the seeds with warming units and use the light for the sunlight. That way I can control the amount of sunlight they will get.

I can create better transplants at a much more reasonable price and any of the extras can go to friends and relatives for their 2011 gardens. My sister and my niece will certainly be the recipients of some of the plants.

My recent foray into starting seeds has at last yielded some nasturtium, bean, tomato and sugar snap pea seedlings. The sugar snap pea seedlings will be planted over the next few days and a cage will be added for the seedlings to climb.

I am hoping to have beans and peas for Landon to come pick. I only hope that I have genetically passed my love of the garden to him. What I realistically know is that what he will learn at my hand and garden may be something he may take with him into his adulthood.

I don't love the growing of flowers the way my mother did, but I do love the process of watching the seed or plant grow. It is a marvelous process and something we can only participate in.

For all of the people that think you are the greatest gardener, you can grow a tomato but you can't make one.