Belatedly In Aw

This is my best friends garden from 8 years ago. She planted this garden in our then backyard (we were also roommates) and as you can see she did a great job. I should state that I have absolutely no recollection of the garden being this big and awesome. I remember that she would frequently talk about how happy she was about various garden goings-ons and she'd beg me to come out and look at it I'd never do it. I couldnt figure out why she would want to spend all that time in the miserable Memphis summer heat. In my defense, I think I was obsessed with a boy who I was in a long distance relationship with at the time. If it did not pertain to him, I simply did not care. I don't regret my boy craziness because that guy is Mr. Wonderful and the reason I moved to Chicago and am living happily ever after. However, I do regret not being supportive of my friend and her fabulous garden, so I thought I'd express my joy now, 8 years late. I'm sorry I'm tardy...During my best friends gardening days, she spent so much time in it and talking about it that we all referred to it as "her boyfriend." Isn't this trellis pretty? I'm wondering how I possibly never saw at least the trellis? I mean I know I went out there at least one time just to shut her up! Man I was mean - I feel bad...

This garden is also the one that is planted in the yard immediately next to the worm farm that I wrote about in my Garden Bloggers Muse Day earlier this month. In case you didn't read it, my father started worm beds to make money but they all escaped into the soil during a storm. After that, the yard always had ridiculous amounts of worms in it. They continued to live and multiply for 2 decades. My grandmother owns this house and my best friend and I lived there 20 years after the worm catastrophe and it was in this same yard that my best friend grew the most amazing watermelon I've ever tasted.

Bff - I'm sorry for not being a good friend back in those days. I was one selfish bastard. Your garden was awesome! Now that I have my own garden, I see why you loved it so much and why you wanted to share the experience with me. 8 years later, I am so envious! Nice work!

Muse Day - Watermelon and Worms

Nothing in the cry

of Cicadas suggests they

are about to die

-Basho

Understanding the value of worms

My father has always been a hustler

He's done some interesting things to make a quick buck

Once he bought a truckload of watermelons really cheap and

made us sell them on the side of the main road leading into our subdivision

I was a teenage girl - I nearly died from heat exhaustion and embarrassment

After a few hours, people started bringing the watermelons back

demanding refunds

they were all rotten

My favorite hustle was worm farming

Grow worms in something that looks like a shallow coffin to a child

split in half after they outgrow the coffin

repeat until you are rich

The funny thing about worm farms is that

when it rains they try to escape

The remedy for this is to shine flood lights on the coffins during the storm

I have no idea why this works - stupid worms

Ironically, my father never seemed to be around when it rained

Time after time my mother

cussing and running in her heavy house coat

hurried to shine bright lights on the worms

Until one day she became fed-up

the worms escaped into the dirt

Twenty-five years later the soil on Owen is rich

My roommate grew the best watermelon I've ever tasted there

because my father has always been a hustler

Be sure to visit Sweet Home and Garden Chicago where Carolyn Gail is hosting Garden Bloggers Muse Day