Our baby we adopted a year ago. A Rags to Riches story.
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5 years ago
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First year failure stories please!
Comments (22)My first year of gardening was in my mid teens (I was given a fairly sheltered life and still prefer it). I had made two 2Âx4Â raised beds 12" high, filled them with topsoil harvested from an out of the way location (on the property) and a few bags of store-bought manure. My parentÂs place happened to be where a full grown bodybuilder would be lucky to get the tip of a shovel 3" into undisturbed ground , so the filling of the beds was an ordeal. I planted each of the beds with 3 rows of red bush beans (I donÂt know why anymore, I was just a kid). I watered and waited, watered again the next day, and again the next. Then at one strange moment the next day I looked upon my creation and just happened to notice the five 18" tall tomato plants growing in each of the beds! You might think that at this point I was very excited about having plants in the garden, or that one of my parents was being nice, making sure that their child had a successful first garden - I tell you now that this was NOT the case! First, I was 15ish - not 5ish! - I knew there were differences between plants and had a bit of a grasp on the concept of time. There is no second point, but what I tell you now is that I had awoken a sleeping gardener who had coveted my land and claimed it as her own (sure she is my Ma and technically maybe it could have possibly been her own, but anyway). I listened to her excuses and cleverly concealed my rage eventually salvaging a bit of a "crop" from my remaining shaded/stunted red beans. Long story short - The next year I grew a 98 lb. pumpkin(who knows why? I was just a kid) - I was aiming for a 100+ but oh well ( IÂm still waiting for the "Pacific Giant" pumpkin) Oh, and I also had probably about 10 Roma tomato plants... :) Many years have passed... I have a garden at my own place now but continue to garden with Ma in the same spot (that has expanded quite a bit). It has been rewarding beyond words (even though the scars from that first year have left me a bitter, bitter husk of a person.) Pep talk time: Get back out there and garden! The fall crops of many vegetables are said to be better than the spring crop - especially root crops. The link below seems to be a good one for your state - it is from an interesting college called Purdue (where it seems that they are famous for making train parts in addition to gardening calendars). Check out Table 2. Too bad that you donÂt have a piece of ground that you could garden regularly for a while - IMO the ground improves quite a bit during the first few years. Maybe you could make raised beds and take the soil with you ? - I read somewhere that this was a French tradition. Best of luck to you! Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/ho/HO_186.pdf...See MoreA Baby Possum Adopted Us.
Comments (21)Joann and Cliff, You maybe interested in this since you have small children around your new found friend. I was watching the "Dirty Jobs" TV show last night. Mike Rowe the dirty job guy, was accompanying a Wildlife Control operator, who was trapping all sorts of critters that had made their nests under the floors of people's homes. Along with Skunks and Raccoons, they also caught a couple of Opossums at one home and the professional trapper told Mike Rowe that Opossums (or Possums) were the "biggest carriers of HIV and *Tuberculosis". He also mentioned that the young ones were quite cute but warned Mike Rowe to be aware of the teeth on the adults, as they could rip you open in a jiffy. As soon as he came out with that information and warning I thought of you both and your grandchildren. Take care, "Horton" * I did a search and found the possums in New Zealand are infected with/carriers of Bovine Tuberculosis. Whether it has, in fact, entered North America and infected the native Opossums here, I could not really determine? Maybe you can do a more thorough search on the subject....See MoreWriting Our Life Stories: Assignment One
Comments (16)Greetings again, all, As I said in the earlier post, my (I like that "my"!) librarian said that they have that book in that small rural library, and I don't know whether she meant in the system as a whole - that involves over 15 libraries, I think, in our county. I remember that an older sister of a girl that I used to go with in high school told me after she'd left home and I'd written her that she liked getting a letter from me - that it was like talking to me. I think that you'll find that, once you start the memory tap flowing ... that other memories will come crowding in, and it'll rather surprise you: I guess that memory banks produce some interest. Jannie ... don't sell yourself short, please ... see, even a short message from you piqued the interest of a couple of other readers among the rather small number who have posted. jodi ... and others ... how about a tape recorder? gayle marie ... don't bother with a shrink - come here. And ... we're free! Kidding aside, many have found that ideas that they've brought foward have produced some interesting and useful responses, including things that they hadn't thought of, and on occasion a different slant on a subject about which they'd done some thinking. When we get our books written ... ... they all get passed around here, via email, right? As they'd be too thick to post here. (Or would some of us be too thick to understand 'em?). ole joyful...See MoreWe Had Our Christmas With Zachary.........
Comments (24)What a cutie! I am so happy he was told early. My friend and neighbor never told her daughter that her dad wasn't her real dad...she found out at school from her friend who is in reality her half sister! Her friend and her share the same dad and she never knew it! Her half sister knew for years and when they were in junior high she told some friends and it got back to my friends daughter. They were 13 at the time and things have never been the same around their house. It destroyed the relationship between her and the dad that raised her since birth. Terrible resentment and it really put a strian on the whole famly. I think it's better to tell them young and let them grow with it. Zach is so lucky to have 2 families that can do this for him! He's such a cutie...looks like Caryn, I've always thought so....See MoreUser
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