Spring
"Wake up! Wake up!" Mom pulls open the pink gingham
curtains in my room and yanks on my blanket. "We are
planting our vegetable garden today."
I know that Mom won’t listen to my pleas
of “five more minutes” this morning. She has
been looking forward to this day since we turned
the soil last fall, right before the first frost. I roll
out of bed and put on my favorite sandals. With
a trowel in my hand, I trek out to the backyard,
where Mom is already waiting for me.
It is a still, spring morning. The doors to our
small, wooden shed are wide open. Inside are
rakes, hoes, pots of different shapes and sizes.
Outside, twenty-four tomato seedlings sit in neat rows.
"First we’ll plant these," Mom tells me.
"Let’s dig!" I say, as we get down on our
knees. I begin to make evenly spaced holes
along the length of our garden. The soil is soft
and moist in my hands. Earthworms crawl
up to the surface and onto my fingers. Mom
carefully places each plant in and I cover
them with a handful of dirt and leaves.
By sundown, we are done. It has been
a long day. I stand up and scrape the dried
dirt off my knees. My back is hurting and
I am worn out, but I already can’t wait to
pick these vegetables when they are ripe.
I know they will find their way into all
of Mom’s favorite recipes: fresh tomato
soup, paneer with bell peppers, and
eggplant parmesan.
Subscribe to Kahani.
How Does My Garden Grow?