Garden ~ better late than never...

To say that I'm a little late with getting the garden in this year is an understatement! I'm usually planting the day after the last frost date but this year my 'get up and go has got up and went!'
Since my surgery at the beginning of the month I have been plagued by ill health. I think the stress of the whole ordeal and the anesthesia are the key factors in all of it. To date, since the beginning of March I have had:
Bronchitis - TWICE!, a double ear infection that is just now responding to antibiotics, a sinus infection, and double pink eye! Not to mention that I took all of my sick time from work during our recent loss and my surgery so I've been working overtime every.single.week. while sick, too. I just cannot get better since I cannot rest. Despite all the whole foods supplements, probiotics, even breaking down and going to the doctor for massive amounts of antibiotics, steroids, etc...I am just now (a month later) starting to feel like I might be making the turn to getting well.

Most of my weekends off were spent lying in bed watching the 'Victory Garden' or HGTV and fretting over my plans for this year's garden. I've planned everything out and got all my seeds, but just can't find the strength to do it all.
Doug was an angel this weekend and tilled up my garden plot:

He even ran errands to town to get me things for it that he couldn't even pronounce, like diotamaceous earth!
Last weekend I was able to get to my garden boxes and plant onions, bok choi, leeks, and carrots...by the end of all that I felt like I climbed Everest! It was a big effort for me between the coughing fits and extreme fatigue.

I bought some hydrangea bushes (my most favorite flower EVER!) on sale and Doug planted them outside the living room window. I can't wait to see what colors they'll bloom into and I look forward to having fresh cut flowers in the house this summer!

For a brief moment I asked myself why was I putting myself through all of this? We have lots of local farmers and organic produce around these parts, why not just skip a year and take it easy for now? The truth is is that I cannot, for the life of me, imagine NOT having a garden....this from a life long city girl! In the four years we've lived here it has gotten in my blood! Gardening is a part of me and gives me such joy, contentment, and peace. I love summer mornings when little Danny and I go out and pick our produce for the day, or when JP catches earthworms, lizards, and frogs for our vegetable patch. Kyle loves cooking our bounty (he makes a pretty mean salsa!)...even Ryan likes the garden, but won't admit it!
It binds us, it feeds us, and I just love my little space on this earth. So yeah, better late than never. And thank goodness Texas has a long growing season~'cause I won't get to planting anything until next weekend at the earliest!