I Garden Because I Can….Pun Intended

This post is about gardening, and why I love it, why I hate it, and why gardening will always be a part of my life!

This is what they look like after being tossed in olive oil. Shiny!

This was a sampling of tomatoes from my garden a few years ago.

I garden because I can!

There’s no place I’d rather be.

In this place, treasures abound,

when searching around,

hunting on bended knee.

My arms are getting itchy,

The bugs are beginning to bite!

Yet still,

I feel,

A calm respite.

My buns are sweating,

My back is breaking,

SO MANY TOMATOES,

I should be staking!

Muscles I never knew I had,

soon will be aching!

Weeds are tall,

My patience is shrinking!

My boobs are sweating!

My armpits are stinking!

And then I start thinking:

How I would love to fall into a pool

But then I look at my haul,

and I begin to drool!

My shirt is stained

My body is drained

My thirst needs quenched

My clothes are drenched

But…

My mind is clear

My soul is cheered

My heart is full

along with my bucket!

My bucket is full

of gardeners’ loot.

I’ve hit the jackpot

in multiple pounds of delicious fruit!

My garden may not be perfect,

after all, it’s full of weeds,

but still it remains

an escape for me.

Not to be alone,

but to live in community

with birds and bees…….

and those stinking rabbits,

the snakes that give me the shivers,

the caterpillars,

other creepy critters

and let’s not forget the coons!

Yes they have a right to be here too,

so I guess I could spare them a tomato or two.

Are You Ready?

If after reading this poem, which is almost a disclaimer stating that gardening is not glam, you still want to give it a try this year, then I found a collection of seed at a decent price to get you started! I read a little bit about the company, and it warmed my heart! Take a peek and see for yourself when you click the pic!

The “I Garden Because I Can” Gift Collection, by Marie Stephens Art

Below, is a link to a small collection of “I Garden Because I Can” items that I created as gifts for gardeners and home grown food preservation fanatics! They can all be personalized and shipped directly to you or to the person you’d like to send the gift to!

So far, I have designed a

kitchen floor mat with funny canning puns and phrases,
a tshirt that can be ordered in multiple styles and colors,
an apron,
a bandana to hold your hair back on canning day,
and a mason jar mug with the graphics I designed to make your fellow gardener/canner smile, especially if they hate bunnies…even though they really are so cute!

I hope you will get a chuckle, and if you do order something, thanks so very much! I earn a royalty for the items purchased with my art on them!