My First Garden

I’ve always wanted a garden. When we moved into our first house, I had visions of planting a garden. The yard wasn’t done, so it would have been easy to create a special area just for the garden. But it never happened. The entire backyard was covered with sod without a dedicated garden space.

That probably wasn’t a bad thing. With two small kids, I wouldn’t have had time. Plus, the soil at that house was less than desirable. I doubt my plants would have done very well.

When we moved into our second house, I had no delusions about putting in a garden. I knew I wouldn’t have time.

When we moved to Nebraska, there was already a garden in place. All I had to do was plant some seeds and let nature take its course. 

One of the best things about my garden is how easy it is to take care of. It would have never been this easy in Wyoming. Gardens in Laramie need a lot of attention and tender loving care. Here in Nebraska, they just need sun and water. We didn’t even do a very good job of spraying for weeds and bugs, but the garden kept growing.

I learned a few things about gardening this year that will help me next year. They are as follows:

• The seeds did much better when they weren’t planted super deep in the ground. Since this was our first garden, we weren’t sure how deep to plant them, so we used a lawn aerator to make the holes. Next year, we’ll probably just use a tiller.

• There’s no reason to plant a ton of bean plants. I have so many beans at the moment, and more developing. Next year, I think we’ll be fine to get away with a couple plants. 

This is part of one bag that is currently in my freezer.

• The bean and tomato plants need their own areas or a barricade. Without one, they spread out and take over. My poor onions got blocked by the bean plants, and the tomato plant took over an entire corner of the plot and has been slowly creeping to other parts of the garden.

I got one onion out of my garden. Just one. My hand is there for size.

• Corn earworms are pretty gross, but they don’t actually harm the plant. I threw away several ears of corn that could have been saved before I had this realization. All I have to do is cut off the top and the rest of the corn is fine. Next year, that will be done differently. 

• My oldest was really creeped out by the corn earworms. It got to the point where he wouldn’t even open the husks for fear a worm would be in there. Like they were going to jump out and latch onto his face. Made me chuckle.

• Corn smut totally looks like an alien egg sac, but it’s just a fungus. It’s a little less fun knowing exactly what this is. I prefer to think of it as something otherworldly.

• You get some really cool bugs in your garden. From lady bugs to praying mantises to whatever is pictured below (we’ve been debating whether it’s a walking stick or praying mantis—cast your vote in the comments!), the bugs rock! The ants weren’t that cool, but a little pesticide took care of those. 

• Carrots suck to pull out of the ground. You’d think they’d be easy—just pull on the tops and out they come, but that’s a lie. I’ve had maybe four carrots that came out easily. The rest I’ve had to conduct an archaeological dig to get them out of the ground. 

This was our first garden, so we really had no idea what we were doing. Not to mention, we planted late in the year (middle of June), so we weren’t sure what would grow. We randomly planted seeds in the ground and waited to see what popped up. Now that we have a season under our belt, we can make next year’s garden even better.

We already have plans of how we’re going to organize it, putting up a barrier so that the tomatoes and beans stay on their own side of the garden. Then, we’ll create rows and organize the seeds accordingly. I even have a list started of what we’re going to plant next year. I can’t wait!

Gardening in Nebraska is easy, which is probably why I enjoy it so much. Sure, I have to spend some time out there making sure the plants are healthy and to see what is growing, but it’s time I enjoy. It’s also not overly time consuming. Oh, it could be. I could spend a lot of time out there if I really wanted, but I don’t, and it still works out.

The boys and I have a lot of fun watching the plants get bigger and then harvesting the crops—and they taste delicious! Now that I have a garden, I can’t imagine what life would be like without it.

“I am like sugar to them.”

The above quote comes from The Simpsons.

Last weekend (not this recent one but the one before that), the family and I headed to Nebraska to find a house. It was our normal trip: too fast and full of long hours in the car. We didn’t find a house, but we had some good contenders. Things were looking up.

(Side note: we found a house later in the week. I didn’t get to see it, but my spouse sent me pictures and it looks like it will work!)

We got home late on Sunday, so I didn’t have time to get my laundry started. On Monday when I woke up, I noticed that I had bug bites on my legs. Of course, my first thoughts were: “Sh*t! We have bed bugs!” So I immediately scooped up the bedding and threw it into the wash. I then proceeded to spray my mattress cover down with bleach water and Lysol.

All week I worried and fretted about whether or not we had bed bugs. I kept an eye on the kids and every time the dogs scratched, I watched them intently. As the week wore on, I got more bites on my legs.

Now, the logical side of my brain told me: If these are bed bugs, why are you only getting bit on the legs? Wouldn’t they be going after your entire body? And why aren’t the kids getting bitten? The dogs seem fine, so why are you so special?

The anxious, panic-attack-susceptible side of my brain was like: IT’S BED BUGS! BED BUGS! CALL AN EXTERMINATOR! YOUR HOUSE IS INFESTED! YOU’RE GOING TO GET EATEN ALIVE!

I texted my husband on Friday morning to tell him about the phenomena, at the same time as I was Googling bed bug bites and looking for exterminators, and he told me that a doctor could tell me immediately what was going on. So, in a rush, I headed to Urgent Care.

Long story short, it’s not bed bugs (thank goodness!), but the doctor wasn’t exactly sure what kind of bites they were. He assumed since we were in Nebraska, it was probably mosquito bites. I was fine with that explanation, if not a bit skeptical, but just incredibly happy it wasn’t bed bugs.

This past weekend (the recent one), I went back to Rock Springs for a convention. While there, I showed my mom my bites, and she immediately thought they looked like chigger bites. She then Googled “chigger” and read the information. I had all the symptoms—especially the insane itching that also made my leg where the bites were feel like they were on fire. My bites didn’t look exactly like the pictures, but there were a few that were close.

It made sense. Those dastardly little bugs are abundant in the Midwest, and they live in grassy and wooded areas. We were walking through lawns and by trees when looking at houses, so it’s completely possible that I could have picked up chiggers. Of course, I’m the only one in my family who got them, but what can I do? I’m just glad I figured out what was trying to eat me alive.

Speaking of the convention, I will go into more detail about it in Wednesday’s post, but I wanted to let you know that I have some leftover books I would like to get rid of before I move. Pictures of what I have available follow. I will sign them and send them (U.S. shipping only) for $4 each. If you’re interested in any of my series, I put the price for those beneath their pictures. Please send me an email if you’d like some books!

Life After the Undead series: each book $4 or both for $6.

The Road to Salvation series: $4 each or all 3 for $10.