Not this year.......

I made a tough decision yesterday. Here's what led up to it...

• crazy, wet Northwest weather which has led to super, soggy ground.
• busy schedule
• limited funds to hire someone to work the soil
• too time consuming to try working it with the small tiller I borrowed from the neighbor. 

....Did that give you enough clues?

Yep, I decided not to do a garden this year. I love gardening, I love having fresh produce for a few months so this wasn't an easy decision.

The last few years, I've had the neighbor up the road come over and till my garden space with his tractor and tiller. This year, I didn't quite have the money to pay him to do this. My garden space is large and while I had planned to scale down a bit this year, I wanted the whole space tilled up. I had thought I'd just borrow another neighbors regular size tiller and do it myself....after all, the exercise would be good for me. 

Yesterday I went out to till the garden. The weeds were crazy and as I worked the tiller, nothing really happened. The tiller just wasn't strong enough to cut through the dirt. Hubby said he'd try it, but he has so much going on right now, there's just no extra time, so I decided that this year I will skip gardening and instead spend time:

• working on keeping my blueberries and raspberries healthy, and safe from the deer
• weeding and prepping the garden area for next year
• Using a few of the containers I have for some herbs or smaller veggies.

Tough decision, but I think one that will be worth it long term. We have so much going on this summer (as we do every summer) but because I haven't been able to get an early start on anything (soil prep, etc..) I was wavering back and forth in regards to having a garden. 

I can't wait to read what everyone else is doing in their gardens. I may get some great ideas.


With Joy UNquenchable,