Weeds. Too many weeds.

Spring was late this year. Really late. It was still snowing in May. Ya. Forget "April showers bring May flowers." Nope, none of that. Instead, it was snow and cold and yuck way past time to plant those lovely flowers. And certainly no chance to plant the garden on time.

Late spring or not, I still wanted a garden and even though I didn't get to plant it until June, I did plant. My fabulous neighbor came over and tilled my lovely little garden. No, I did not coerce him. He actually volunteered. Maybe he knew I would make him a Key Lime Pie, but I don't think so. He came over with his darling little family and buzz, buzz, buzz...turned my garden soil into black marshmallow. Oh, divine!

I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, butternut squash, lettuce, pumpkins and cabbage. Having started with perfectly tilled soil and pretty little starts and brand new seeds, my hopes were very high. Even when my pumpkins didn't come up (nope, not a single one and I planted 4 hills) I still had high hopes. Even when June didn't act like June and stayed a bit too cold for a bit too long, I still had high hopes. 

Each day I would look out at my lovely little garden. It got greener and greener. But alas, not because the plants I planted were thriving. No. They were growing but still scrawny. What was all the green??

Weeds. Weeds, weeds, weeds. Weeds everywhere. But at this point they were all tiny. Still manageable. So everyday I would go out and weed for a while. Always covering a section of the garden. Still looking lovely. Weeds creeping in...but I was still the boss.

Then a friend came in from out of town. I rationalized that I don't see this friend often. Surely I should spend my time with the friend and not in the garden. The garden would wait, right? The laundry waits. The dishes waits. The weeds could wait. Sheesh. What was I thinking?!

A week later the friend has gone back home to Arizona and I returned to the garden. Sigh. Instead of a manageable green carpet, I now find a huge green forest. Seemingly insurmountable.

Why do I tell you this? Well, I suppose partly because your sympathy will make me feel better. =) Today I began my quest to expose the earth around my pretty little garden plants. I started in the back corner. It had rained last night so the soil was moist and wonderful and the weeds came out easily. There were so many so many so many. But at least they came out easily. I worked for about 2 hours and filled the garbage dumpster. Yes, I filled it. Had to push them down to close the lid. Did I finish the garden? Nope. Only about half. Sigh. Yes, I still have half to go. But I need to wait until the garbage man comes tomorrow so I have somewhere to put them.

So please, dear friends, send your sympathy. But the real reason I tell you this is because I want to tell you the flood of relief that was mine when I came in from the garden. It was dinner time. I was so hungry and so dirty and so tired. But the only thing I had to do to make dinner was slice the lovely tomatoes I found in the garden. We had one of our favorite things; Tuna Fettuccine with green salad and fresh garden tomatoes. But I made the Tuna Fettuccine part weeks ago and froze it.

I love that spending one day in the kitchen making and freezing food, results in days like today when I am just too beat to make dinner. Makes feeding the family so very easy.

Today's Freezin' Reason: Weeds. Too many weeds.