Way back in the spring, I wrote about my intention to start gardening this year. A friend came by and gave me some advice on soil preparation, plant selection, and building a fence to keep the rabbits out. My father-in-law built the fence. I bought five huge bags of organic compost and lugged them into the backyard.  I rented a rototiller, lifted all 80 pounds of it out of my car, and dragged it into the garden.  I went in the house to get a drink, and looked out the window to see Mr. Nguyen, the man who mows my lawn, standing in my garden plot, looking at the tiller.

I went outside and said hello.  He looked at me, puzzled, and said, “I already did that.”  Turns out he had tilled the soil and worked in some organic compost.

Huh.  I thought the dirt looked a little fluffy. I thought maybe my father-in-law had been digging around.

Mr. Nguyen shook his head, and said very sadly, “This is too hard for you.”  He helped me load the tiller back into the car, and I went and bought several plants.  Tomatoes, herbs, squash, peppers.  Full of excitement, the kids and I planted the plants and put in some seeds.

Not one seed sprouted, save a lonely sunflower.  A late frost hit, and we had extreme wind and some hail a few times. I watered the plants faithfully although they began to wither.  We live at the edge of a gulch, where the sun beats down on hot days and winds howl through much of the time.    The plants struggled along. Hopeful, I kept watering and waiting.

And then we left town for five days, and temperatures rose into the high 90’s.

I forgot to ask someone to water.

Well, I think maybe Mr. Nguyen was right.

But I’ll try again next year…this time, with an automatic watering system in place.