The Vegetable Garden

It’s been some forty plus years since we left the confines of civilization in the big city to move into the wilderness of southern Minnesota as pioneer teachers and homesteaders. Under those circumstances, we quickly adopted the now trendy lifestyle known as "Frugal Living." This, of course, was in the days before Martha Stewart showed people how to do it.
We did manage to purchase our Little House On The Prairie next to the Big Woods and intent on establishing the means to support a family, I began clearing a plot of gooseberries, prickly ash, and crabgrass. All this was done with a hand axe and spade. The ultimate goal was a large vegetable garden. I had to learn the business from scratch, never having gardened before. Ultimately, a seasonal rotation was successfully developed, as I learned how to turn the soil with my trusty spade, plant, weed and harvest. Then I added a compost bin and also took up flower gardening.

Thirty years later, when in hopes of a more "senior friendly" abode, we built a new home, in the woods next door, I carried on with the gardening.

By this time, without the need for a large vegetable garden and tired of the constant weeding needed to make it work, I was ready to give it up and just stick to the flowers. Besides the shady woods, where we now lived, wasn’t really conducive to growing vegetables. Mrs T explained the problem to our neighbors and they came to the "rescue" by volunteering a portion of their adjacent cornfield for our use. I shouldered on.......
This year entering my seventieth decade I decided the time had come to retire from the tomato and carrot business once and for all. It seemed to me that the nearby farmers markets would serve what need we had for fresh fruits and vegetables and the fact that the Amish ladies had fresh pies for sale didn’t hurt either. I announced my final retirement. It was then that she (Mrs T.) claimed she would do the vegetable gardening herself. This, even after I pointed the back breaking labor involved with tilling and endless weeding requirements. Finally, I said I would serve only in a consultative capacity.... no physical labor to be provided on my part. I was worried she couldn’t handle it the strain.
So it was to my great surprise last week, when I heard some noise beyond the backyard and left my difficult computer chores to go and see what was going on. Here is how my ever resourceful wife, approached the backbreaking, getting the soil prepared for planting, part of vegetable gardening.... with the help of our kindly corn farming neighbors.....

Preparing the soil and fertilizing all in one operation....
She also asked me about something for weed removal called Roundup. Or her more likely plan is to replace all the carpet in the house, due to my GSD (German Shedding Dog. Then use it to carpet the rows in the garden so the weeds can't come up. Yup, I think she’s going to make a go of it......