What I am doing and why.

I have no business trying to grow a garden. My indian name would be "woman who kills plants." Giving me a houseplant is tantamount to putting it on death row. I once had plants in my cube at work that a friend took care of and they died even though I never touched them. I've even killed fake plants. In fact, one of my friends used to say that under "herbicide" in her dictionary it showed a picture of me.

Why, then, am I embarking on this project that is highly likely to fail? Because, if it works, this it the best way I can think of to bond with my grankids and help provide my grandchildren with plenty of vegetables this summer. I live with my youngest son, his wife, and their 5 kids and extra food is always welcome. To top it off, all of the kids love fresh vegetables.

Not only am I attempting a garden, I'm hoping to start all the plants from seeds. I learned how to start seeds properly last year as a little project I did with some of my other grandkids, so now I want to try it again. Of course, part of the reason I'm planning to grow the plants from seeds is to save money. I love to do things as frugally as possible. As an ex-boyfriend of mine used to say of me, "When she walks down the street in the springtime, birds call her name.... CHEAP! CHEAP! CHEAP!"

While I don't have any money to speak of to spend on this project, what I do have available is space -- a LOT of space. We live at the edge of town and have a huge yard which is actually a large lot with the fenced in field next to it included in the rental.

So we've worked out the "where." Now on to the "how." I have physical limitations that make it impossible for me to do all the work myself. What I do have available is 5 grandkids who live here, ages 13, 10, 6, 5, and 3, plus a couple of others who wander through on occasion. They are all enthusiastic about the whole garden project and talk about it all the time. Hopefully I can harness some of their energy and enthusiasm.

Since I'm doing this as cheaply as possible, I've asked on several sites for materials and assistance. We have no rototiller so I offered computer work and/or sewing for someone to till the ground and/or loan us a tiller to do it with. I put in the requests online last night, so we'll see how it goes.

I'll post more as things develop... or don't develop.