I want to be "some tomato"

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies, and now that I'm a full fledged homeowner, I get to do just that.

The only issue I'm facing is my sister did landscaping that was easy for her to keep up with and didn't require a lot of attention or time, but that she could just enjoy.  But it just isn't conducive to my style of gardening.

The back yard is pretty much river bed.  While it's beautiful in its own way, it does not lend itself to planting flowers, or more importantly vegetables.

I will spend the fall getting the back garden cleaned up and possibly have the rock removed.  That will leave me the winter to plan and design my garden.

The book I've used in the past that has served me well, and is what I refer to as, "my bible" is the Sunset Western Garden Book.  My last one was so old, worn, and tattered; I had to find a replacement.  I will spend countless hours poring over each page, putting the garden together like a live jigsaw puzzle.  I'm looking forward to this to get me through the long, cold, dark days of winter.

All of this garden thinking made me remember a poem I read in a book called "When I'm an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple."  It's a great book – if you haven't read it, you should.  Mary-Louise and I laughed and cried our way through that book, and in her words, "This is so YOU!"

Here's the poem that is "me." 

Post Humus

Scatter my ashes in my garden

so I can be near my loves.

Say a few honest words,

sing a gentle song,

join hands in a circle of flesh.

Please tell some stories

about me making you laugh.

I love to make you laugh.

When I've had time to settle

and green gathers into buds,

remember I love blossoms

bursting in spring.

As the season ripens

remember my persistent passion.

And if you come in my garden

on an August afternoon,

pluck a bright red globe,

let the juice run down your chin

and the seeds stick to your cheek.

When I'm dead I want folks to smile and say...

"That Patti, she sure is some tomato!"

By Patti Tana

If it is read for me, I think you can replace "Patti" with "Ruth."  Hopefully, she won't mind.