The Boy's Garden that Grew

When they had finished, the mother announced, "We need to till the compost into the clay to loosen it up and prepare the bed." The mother gave the boy a garden rake while she started the tiller. It was hard work, but the mother and her boy were able to till the bed and remove rocks that came to the surface. They smoothed the soil out. They raked a lot of leaves onto the new bed and tilled them in as well. The soil was looking darker and was crumbly. The leaf litter would help it to drain water in the spring and hold water in the summer.

As the pleasant autumn days persisted, the mother and the boy decided to add edging to his garden to help keep the grass from invading. They dug the trench and put in the edging. They used stakes to hold it into place so the freeze/thaw cycle wouldn't heave it out.

"Now there was nothing more to do out here until springtime," the mother said. They spent the winter months planning the garden, looking through seed catalogs, ordering the seeds, and starting seeds in the basement under lights. When spring came, they were ready. They hardened off their seedlings and planted them into the waiting and ready garden bed. The plants grew and grew producing too many zucchini, myriad flowers, and beans by the bucketful. The boy enjoyed his garden and remembered the work that had gone into it. He was glad he had prepared in late summer and autumn for the new garden he could enjoy right away that spring and summer. The mother was glad as well. She had time to tend her own gardens and spring chores. The End.

The moral of this story is to get started on those new beds for next year now! It will make your spring much easier! Enjoy the fall season!

© Linda Mazar

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