My neighbors Parker and Patty are always telling me how proud they are to be a part of Port O’Connor, Texas. They say it is a great community and so friendly. Parker was talking with his sons about their mother’s garden. He said she shopped the catalogs, bought gloves and seeds and markers and supplies all year for the garden. he said she spent more than the veggies and herbs would cost if he just bought them. The boys decided the preparations took longer than the growing.

This year they decided to offer their version of a low work, no maintenance, money saving garden. They snuck out to the garden plot one evening while Patty was busy inside and just to tease Patty they planted their plot. Both sons and their dad took a row in Patty’s well prepped garden and filled it with their choices of ‘garden greats.’ Peyton planted a whole row of neatly jarred special hot salsa in shiny glass jars perfectly aligned in the row marked tomatoes. Just for fun he hung a large bag of tortilla chips on the row stake marker. Paul planted a long straight row of whole canned organic green beans in sturdy environmentally safe tin cans on the row marked beans. Parker tied large Ball Jars of pickled okra to the trellis carefully staked across the end of the row waiting for okra to climb its highest board.

They headed back in and were watching the game when Patty found their garden prank. She took the joke quite well and even found a way to get even just a little. The next night when dinner was served the only items on the menu came from the boys new and improved garden. it only took one meal without Patty’s fresh herbed chicken or scrumptious squash for the boys to decide that all her work was more than worth it, and the cost was nothing compared to what they got. Patty was back in her garden growing beautiful things for dinner and her own garden therapy by the very next day. And boy are those boys tired of green beans and pickled okra for game snacks. They are almost out of salsa. Maybe Patty will make them some fresh salsa soon from the produce she gets from her garden.