A Childhood Dream...

It was a song my grandparents played for me quite often, a little ditty called "Jason's Farm" by Cal Smith. Never quite knowing what a depressing song it was (not only was I suppose to marry a woman, but then she dies!!), I just knew I was either going to be a veterinarian or a farmer, and this song seemed meant to be for me (minus woman and death, in that order...).

I was going to be a farmer. I imagined fields of spotted cows and Arabian horses; Rhode Island red chickens clucking around my feet; Mallard ducks in the pond; golden fields of corn and wheat (soy wasn't really all that big in my formative years...), and a big, bright-red barn where all the hay and animals were kept.

And now, BEHOLD! The beginnings of Jason's farm:


Hey, hey, hey: Don't knock it--everyone has to start somewhere, right?

And what I'm starting with is:

• 36 cucumber plants
• 29 spinach plants
• 12 lettuce plants
• 17 morning glories
• 20 various herbs and spices
• And a severe lack of impatiens and geraniums...

I have realized that the peat cups are pretty much worthless. I don't know why the trays seem to work much better, if the cups hold too much moisture and drown the seeds or what.

But here is the beginning of Jason's farm. Of course, now that I cannot actually use my kitchen sink, it has become all the more clear to me how imperative it is I clear away all the old lilac bushes around the garage and start plowing up the soil there. Otherwise my kitchen sacrifice will have been for naught! (Okay, honestly? The only reason we touch the kitchen sink is to hook up the dishwasher... Seriously...)

Of course, yet to break ground as well are the peppers (yellow), the giant sun flowers (at a certain someone's behest), the beets (for mom), and the tomatoes (both red and yellow); but in their defense, they were just planted this past Sunday. Time will tell!

Truth be told, the garage isn't exactly a big red barn. The horses that live in the field behind my house aren't mine, and the mule that lives down the lane? You think you have noisy neighbors?! Sounds like a sickly elephant more than a horse-type creature...

But vegetables? I'm a frickin' farmer! Metrosexually speaking, of course...