After years of my wife asking for a garden, I have finally found a little extra time to set one up.

However, I do not seem to know how to do things normally. I started out tilling up an area for a small garden. It then turned into a sizeable plot. I tilled, and I tilled, and I tilled, and then, when that was done, I tilled some more.

I raked out the dead grasses and weeds and made my mounds. I went to a local nursery with my family to pick out our choice of vegetables, and we ended up with just about everything you can think of (due to the fact that we could not say no). To top it off, we bought them in flats of 36, so by the time we were done, my sizeable plot was too small, and I had plants to spare.

So again, I tilled and I tilled some more. My garden kept and keeps growing a bit more every weekend. We have put in so many plants that I lost count.

We thought tomatoes would be good, but not without pepper plants. Lettuce is nice too, but we couldn’t forget collards. And the broccoli is growing like a weed. The snap beans and lima beans are in a race for the trellis, but the okra is taking its time. The strawberries are sprouting quickly, but seem to bear no fruit when my kids are around. The onions and corn are reaching toward the heavens at record paces. Cucumbers are maintaining a steady pace while waiting on the watermelon and squash and cantaloupe to catch up.

And who could forget the sunflowers for that extra beauty in the garden. They are breaking the surface of the soil now. Yes, our garden is growing. It is a bit more than half an acre now and will most likely hit an acre before it is finished.

It is amazing to watch a garden grow, to plant both seedlings and seeds in the fresh soil and watch them embrace life and stretch toward the heavens. There is something so serene about being in a garden and seeing the beauty that God created come to life and flourish, to watch as the plants bear fruit, even to see the wildlife that comes by hoping for a quick meal.

Many folks know me as an outdoor person. I am always fascinated by the natural beauty that surrounds us. I try to take time to appreciate it as much as possible, and there is no better place to do so than in my own garden.

While we are only a few weeks into our garden adventure, I look forward to seeing all of the plants do well and produce more fruit than we can eat. I long to see my children experience the joys of gardening. They have helped out every weekend thus far, and love watching our garden grow as much as I do.

They will truly appreciate it when they are able to eat the fruits of their labor. Then, I will have planted the most important seed of all, and I can sit back and watch it grow in future generations!

Jon Ward lives in Eclipse. Email him at TigPooh2@aol.com.