MY COUNTRY GARDEN

I’ve always wanted an old-fashioned country garden at the farmhouse. When we moved here, I bought one of those picture books of lovely country gardens and envisioned the yard on south side of the house just full of old-fashioned flowers. It didn’t happen, of course. How could it? It’s hot and dry out there.

Just last year I tried to kill off some of the “grass” so that I might develop a small plot of flowers. I made some progress, but my follow-through wasn’t what it should have been. It reverts to weeds even as I write.

Of course, always the bottom line is ease of mowing. It’s not a concept peculiar to Mike. After Grandma Ina’s passing, my dad removed her roses and peonies and any fencing to make the yard easier to mow.  

Actually, gardening here “back in the day” was probably easier than it is today. It wasn’t as hot, and we would have summer rains. Perhaps they couldn’t grow everything, but they knew what they could grow successfully.

Another factor that makes gardening difficult today is the deer. Of course, there have always been some deer, but not like today. We know – we can tell – that when we aren’t here, the deer cavort in our yard. And the rodents we have always with us.

At any rate, I think I’ve established here that a gardener I am not. I content myself with the hollyhocks that grow along the side of the house. And perhaps that’s not so bad. They volunteered to grow here, which means they’re happy, and the hummingbirds like them. They’re a bit messy, of course, but it doesn’t matter.

Regardless of my lack of gardening talent and interest, weeding and trimming must be done, and so I wanted a garden cart. It’s been hard to find one. Home Depot said they don’t carry garden carts and have them only as special buys. Watch for them in the flier, they said. We did notice them in the flier once, but by the time we got to the store, they were sold out.

But the good news is, while visiting the landfill in Orofino, we found one. Landfill personnel attempt to reduce the garbage by showcasing usable items in an area they call “Clearmart.”

“There’s a garden cart over there,” Mike said. “If you’d like to have it I’ll ask how much they want.” I agreed.

                                                                                                    

“You can have it,” said the worker.

What a find! It looked great – still had the label attached -- but as we pulled it away, the wheel fell off. “That’s all right,” Mike said, "I can fix it.”

Fix it he did, and now I have a garden cart. KW