I Had a Love Affair Last May....With Dirt.

I really don't profess to be a great gardener - or really a gardener at all. Don't ask me to tell you what to plant next to each other, how to pollinate (see my friend's hilarious post on pollinating) or when to know if something is ready to pick. In fact, the only reason why I tried gardening years ago, is because I knew I 'should' do it, but primarily because the gardening book I bought had a money back guarantee. I was sure I was going to kill everything like I had before, so I wanted to be sure I only lost time, not money.

I really had no plans to do a garden this year. I knew the time (even though it's a short time with this method, it's intense) and expense - self imposed, mind you - involved in setting up my lazy man's garden, so I just scratched it off of this year's list. Until, my neighbor Mia asked me if I wanted to split a plot with her. We live in an HOA that provides organic community gardens. Initially I was opposed to community gardens, for who knows why, but the thought of splitting our time and cost and still getting results??? I couldn't resist. I sold her on my method, and we went to work. If we didn't have to dig out the plot we had, it would have been no problem, but we spent 75% of our time digging that weed infested dirt out and hauling in new compost, peat moss, worms, bone meal and mulch.3 of the 5 garden slaves, I mean fairies

In the middle of it all, I took a breather, looked at this rich, dark, moist, good smelling compost and fell in love. I loved the way it looked, felt, smelled, and I loved what it was going to give me. I bent down, picked up a handful and rolled it around. When I would get home, I would think about it and wonder if the worms loved it as much as I did. I was almost jealous of them. As I found myself going on and on about my soil to other people who gave me blank stares, in my head I knew I sounded a little mad, but it was almost as if someone else was controlling my mouth. I couldn't shut up about it.

We got all of our seedlings in, watered faithfully and waited with baited breath. When, oh when, were we going to eat our first pepper or tomato or pea??? I had complete faith in my system. It promises no weeding and no tilling. Just water and add compost every so often. I did this method for 2 years in Las Vegas with great success, so I knew it would be a no fail in Utah, right?

Our June was wacky. Lots and lots of rain. I would go to water occasionally and be disappointed that the only thing really progressing was the spearmint and one little bell pepper. I was none too happy.

I didn't do all this work for one miniture bell pepper!

Then July came! Wow...our garden took off. I apologized to my soil for doubting it's power and had renewed faith. Last Sunday I went to water, and thought I'd give one of our zucchini's another 3-4 days to mature. I came back 1.5 days later and it had doubled! The peas, the cilantro....ah, it is so very satisfying.

I wish everyone could know the joy of investing in a garden. It really holds many lessons. Honestly, the book makes it pretty fail proof, and you could technically do it for free or close to it if you planned far enough ahead, but the money and time I shelled out has already been worth it in teaching my girls the joys of working hard, planting, being patient and savoring all our hard work in one bite. Before this, my girls wouldn't touch a pea, now they fight over who gets to split the shell and eat the first pea. You'd think it was gold.

Well, that little book is a gem. It's called Lasagna Gardening . I look forward to next year, when there will be no work involved in getting the soil ready and I will actually start my own seeds. If you've never gardened before, or have been previously traumatized by a garden gone wrong, don't give up! Honestly, this book is Gardening for Dummies.