Annual gardening is crazy hard
work! Harder work than I (or my
back) were ready for. My gardens
looked nothing like the pictures in
the seed catalogs. And even
worse, here I was living my dream,
and the truth was, I wasn’t really
having much fun. I could handle
the sowing and harvesting, but it
was all the stuff in between that
was
dragging
me
down—the
never-ending
cycle
of
soil
preparation, crop rotations, pest
combating, watering, fertilizing,
gopher-proofing
and
then...
starting all over again the next
season! It was endless!
Adding to my challenges, the hot
California sun seemed to hold a
grudge against my plants, wilting
them in its intense glare. And
pests? Well, let's just say they had
a field day. I felt like I was playing
a non-stop game of garden
Whac-A-Mole. Once I got on top
of one pest, another would pop
up in its place. Not to mention,
every vacation came with the
guilt of abandoning my green
babies and a dread of what I'd
find upon returning.
A few seasons in, I knew a
change
was
needed.
But
surrendering my dream? That was
a notion I was unwilling to
entertain.
I N T R O D U C T I O N