Our garden is the one measurement I’m clinging to that proves to myself things are getting better. Last spring we decided that since both LuLu and I would be home full-time, planting a vegetable garden made perfect sense. I love home-grown tomatoes, and the project could be a learning experience for LuLu.

The project failed. LuLu wasn’t able to do any of the planning or caretaking, without much effort on my part. And it became a huge chore, and another source of failure, to haphazardly take care of the garden. So bugs ate some of the plants, others just died, and even the tomatoes that survived often had fruit that rotted before we got around to picking it.

As a girl who grew up on a farm, where every year we had large vegetable gardens, I was ashamed! How could my simple gardening efforts fail so miserably?

Fast forward to March 2007, and we decided to give Project Garden a second chance. Super Dad built a large elevated box for an expanded garden. We planned out space for not only tomatoes and herbs, but squash, cucumbers, lettuce and more. This time LuLu was able to help more, even calculating the square footage of the garden.

We were running behind (story of my life) getting the soil prepared and plants purchased. But it worked out. Because there was a late freeze here in the South, it was just fine that we didn’t plant until mid-April. Now, I’m happy to report that we have tomatoes that get taller daily, both lettuce and cilantro sprouting and cucumbers and zucchini that are starting to spread. The peppers, cucumbers and basil are up and growing too.

It’s satisfying to grow things. Cindy on Older Child Adoption blog frequently comments on how she uses her gardening passion as therapy. I am no where near that point, but admit a certain contentment in knowing that I am capable of making something grow.

I see a metaphorical connection to my life and LuLu’s in this too. Last year was just not the time for growing much of anything – we were dry, not very fertile soil. We were reeling from the due process hearing and adjusting to having LuLu home full-time. We didn’t have anything left to give to a garden. This year, just like the garden, things are growing and blooming. But not without hard work, mind you. The progress LuLu’s making (and my own healing) take constant tending. Just like I need to water the garden daily, because we’re now having a drought, I need to make sure that both LuLu and I get that nurturing touch that is edging both of us toward blooming.


See How I Grow
Therapy Garden
Gardening Is Good Therapy

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