My gardening efforts are definitely a metaphor for my life. I blogged about this earlier in our dry spring here, how last year’s garden had failed miserably, but we had “turned over a new leaf” and things were growing.

By updating you on the status of my gardening efforts, I’m probably giving you more insight on my crazy, albeit more-fruitful-than-last-year, life. A few weeks ago we had two beautiful rows of lettuce that had nearly reached maturity, when one day…to my great frustration…I found a rabbit had eaten the entire harvest.

Meanwhile, I never expected the tomato plants to grow quite as heartily as they have this year. As a Midwestern girl, staking the tomatoes had always been enough. Well, these babies should have been caged, tied, and otherwise controlled. So my garden, while it’s producing some lovely tomatoes, looks like an overgrown heap of one massive tomato plant with all kinds of stakes and contraptions to keep the branches from breaking --wild and free are the adjectives that come to mind.

The cucumbers are producing nicely, but the squash and zucchini, as giant as the plants are, just keep blooming and not having a single solitary squash setting on. What’s up with that?

The carrots are growing, but not mature yet…how long does that take??? I’m confounded by the basil and cilantro, both are growing, but not well.

And such it is with my life here, much better than this time last year, but not without its challenges and disappointments. And there’s so much I don’t understand. Parts are just like the tomatoes, growing rapidly and producing good fruit, but wild and unruly. I can’t help but wonder if my life would be more fruitful if I could control it, like caging the tomatoes.

And then there are definitely parts of our life (the school battles) that remind me of the zucchini. Huge plant that looks very healthy and like it ought to be cranking out some beautiful squash any day now. Lots of blooms…but nothing…not one single solitary vegetable produced. Will it, or won't it?

So, what’s a beleaguered gardener to do? Enjoy the tomatoes and cucumbers, sprinkle occasional fresh basil on our pasta, and go to the farmers market on Saturday mornings!

Next summer will be even better yet!

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