It started when I was
only two.

My brother was born.
They sent me to stay
with my grandmother.

She had camellias
and roses.
There was a plum tree.

It marked me for life.

(There is a photo --
black and white --
I'm in a sunbonnet
with a watering can
almost my height.)

At sixteen,
I dug a flowerbed
in the lawn
without permission

and made a rock path
in another bed.
I could not
be stopped.

Later
I demanded
a sunny part of the yard
for vegetables.

It expanded: peas
next to the hedge.
Asian greens
by the roses.

Parsley bordering
the euonymus.
Potatoes
in a bare spot.

I took my jade plant
to college
and dug wildflowers
to bring home.

In the city I had
houseplants.
It wasn't enough.

From the train window
obsessively
I counted
wildflowers.

I snatched seeds
when I saw them,
and threw them
in bare places.

Now I have
two acres.
I am growing

everything.

I have almost
run out of friends
to give tomatoes to.

Soon
I will be known as
the crazy lady
with all the plants.

Maybe I am
already.

Thank you missingthe obvious. I really like that poem. LInda

It's raining here.
Very cute, but ...

But, do you wash your hands before you handle the dirt? That will be the next question we get asked when filling out an application for a permit to give our edibles away.

Very nice! I also rather hope it is true.

Love it. My sister says every time she pulls in the driveway she expects to see another raised bed. I took over about 6 years ago, our kitchen garden had been overtaken by the 'shrubs' planted at the back, So I pulled them out. The roots were so deep it rattled the house. Then I said I am planting tomatoes (my mother was in hospice and I was chief caregiver, and what she loved most of all was a BLT or tomato and cheese. and by gum she had them. Then I got some cedar lumber from my inlaws, what to do what to do... anyway. there are much worse addictions to have. Thanks for sharing.