A Day of Gardening

Last Saturday I became the proud caretaker of five broccoli starts. I picked them up from the University Farmer’s Market at a stall for the Seattle Youth Works community garden at Marra Farm. I arrived in Vancouver, WA at my boyfriend’s parent’s house last night and planted them today. The job was not as romanticized as I imagined it to be. With the help of my boyfriend, I had to clear the garden plot of weeds, till the soil with shovels, break up clumps of dirt, and scatter some topsoil. The size of my plot was only 1 meter squared. I couldn’t imagine having to do that to acres and acres of land. When it came time to actually plant my broccoli starts, I was quite discouraged to realize the aphids had made a meal of my precious plants. There were dozens of the pests crawling all over the leaves. I discovered my calling in life is not to become a farmer. It is hard work, both physically and mentally demanding, making things grow properly. I just hope to not be confined to a windowsill herb garden in the future. I have to build up my shovel-digging arm muscles.