Listen to Mom, She Always Knew What was Right

One thing I don't ever want you to think is that I never make mistakes (in my garden or elsewhere. )

But if I had listened to Mom, I'd be a lot better off.

"Put Your Toys Away When You're Through with Them"


My erstwhile coldframe


A couple months ago I decided to build a cold frame to get a head start on my gardening season. I prepared the bed, cut some plywood for the frame, and started to build the window/roof, but ran out of time. I trudged back into the house, and spied a wrench I had used on an earlier project in the living room.

I grabbed the wrench, went to the garage, threw the wrench on my workbench, and tripped over the cord of my circular saw that I left out after cutting wood for the cold frame. Looked like I was starring in a 3 Stooges movie. Result: One broken arm/unfinished cold frame.

Momma told me...

"Don't Put That Thing in Your Mouth! You Don't Know where It's Been!"

One thing I look forward to this time of year is eating fresh veggies, sometimes while I'm standing right in the garden. A stalk of asparagus is never as fresh, or a leaf of spinach is never as tasty as when you're in the garden.

I've rationalized that because I'm an organic gardener, that's OK. How wrong.

My stomach was churning, and my wife complained I had bad breath. My daughter even said I had "old man's breath!"

A quick trip to the doctor confirmed Mom (and my wife and daughter) were right: I had a bacteria in my stomach caused by eating unwashed fruit or veggies. Wonder where I caught that?

Momma told me...

"You Better be Careful with That Thing!"

Like many guys, I love power tools. And being a gardener, one of my favorites is my tiller.

I'll admit, I've probably overused it, but it sure is fun to take a weed-infested patch of dirt, and turn it into a carpet of freshly tilled soil.

Last week I was tilling close to the house, holding on for dear life while the tiller tines tore up the heavy clay. It was fun, until one of the times grabbed a low hanging telephone wire. Ouch. "

Can you hear me now?" Didn't think so.