Womens-Place

Common sense based on a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on that which they “sense” as their common natural understanding.  Some people (such as the authors of Merriam-Webster Online) use the phrase to refer to beliefs or propositions that — in their opinion — most people would consider prudent and of sound judgment, without reliance on esoteric knowledge or study or research, but based upon what they see as knowledge held by people “in common”. Thus “common sense” (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have. However this is not the common dictionary definition. The most common meaning to the phrase is good sense and sound judgement in practical matters. It has nothing to do with what other people may think or feel.

Definition: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts

Hmmm…just my very interesting word of the day.  I am just trying to understand this word since it seems that it is so random in my vocabulary according to Webster’s Online Dictionary.  I guess it would depend on in what “act” I am performing?

When it comes to protecting my family and making medical decisions boy common sense kicks in and I am on the mark and hit the bulls eye!  Money making decisions boom, on the mark as well. When it comes to random things like, tractors, chains, walking the line, stairs, horses and what not.  I think a line is cross and recklessness comes into my vocabulary way to fast…not on purpose though, just very adventurous, edgy, spitfire-like, spicy, fly by the seat of my pants girl.  I will let you look up the definitions to those adjectives!

As my husband Tim says, life is never boring with me around, I must agree…I keep it lively, ah, another adjective!

Healthy dependency?  What in the  world is that you ask?  Well, I was going to ask you that. See, that is what I am learning. Healthy dependency is this new phase of life for me.  A very interesting realm that I have never even come close to walking in.  I think always being VERY independent and strong natured this new term and way of life is a struggle for me.

I have always been the giver, the caretaker, the strong one…the one who rebounds very fast from trials and tribulations pretty fast.  However; when I go through situations such as this issue with my daughter Gracie being very ill in the hospital, with my husband being gone almost 4 weeks now with her…I have this horrible habit of NOT asking for help when needed.  I do and go full throttle. I feel as it is a bother to others when I ask.  There is also a guilt I carry that I should somehow be able to do it all. Well, I am not sure WHY I think that way, but I wanted to throw it out there to just say I am where I am in this walk of life.  Hoping that exposing myself somehow someway will help someone else win a battle in their own life.  Is it fear of rejection? Is it pride? Is it just being stubborn? Is it because I am just so worn down that I am not thinking straight or is it something I am just needing to walk out?

On the other hand I have begged for some help and have heard many times I am busy, not today, I am sorry but I am swamped…so then I think I am a bother.  So then I form this “oh Jeeze” syndrome and think I am not asking anyone else. This is so not a good thing. (Yes, I know I am just rambling) Finding a balance when you are in the midst of upheaval is so important.  One must learn the art of obtaining this thing I am so desperately trying to learn, Healthy Dependency.  Sounds easy enough, yeah…now to make this my goal. Day by day reaching out letting others know my needs, fears, wants, weaknesses…showing vulnerabilities…these things hold me accountable to dear friends, even strangers to take steps forward to obtain a healthy dependency.

So I would love to hear back from you as to what YOUR personal definition is of Healthy Dependency is. If you leave a comment you will be entered into a drawing. The drawing will be randomly drawn on Sunday night at 6pm eastern time. The prize will be a $15 gift card to Amazon.com

Laughter, oh the smiles and joy that comes from seeing a little one belly laugh just does me in!  Tonight I Skyped with my Gracie girl in Hershey as she was lying in her hospital bed. I got our family gathered around the computer and we just talked.  How kids are just full of life just amazes me.  Adults are really funny. We tend to just get so caught up in so many issues that never seem to ever end.  We lose our joy so fast.  We lose sight of the end of the turmoil but kids, man, they just seem to know nothing more than joy, hope and they have so much faith that they know that it  will get better. Yet, I see this little one going though so much and yet there is so much joy in the midst of her sever pain she smiles through it.

Tonight I wanted to make her laugh.  I decided to do what I know Grace loves best. Mommy being crazy is her best medicine.  I started telling her she was my little love baby and that I was going to bang down her door and take her to my love shack…where we can get together and and just have some fun!  So I decided again to You Tube the

B-52’s Love Shack…so the music starts, we sing and dance…Grace is jamming, arms moving, giggles are coming out, mommy is dancing in her chair, singing from Gracie, singing from mommy is filling the room…nurse comes in and thinks it is great.  We get to the part of Bang bang on the door baby…it gets louder and louder and the release as she is screaming it is relieving the pressure from her soul…she is looking intense and freedom is coming to her as she is singing it. By the end of the song she had been moving limbs, heart rate up and NO head pain what so ever!

I told my sweet amazing Grace that we keep fighting, we keep banging on that door for answers, we NEVER give up…she tells me “okay mommy” “we keep banging on the door, okay”  That is right never give up, never lose hope…once you lose, you become an open target.

Later on, I called to say good night…she told me she loved to go to sleep…she said when I go to sleep the angels come and sing and dance all around me mommy and I talk with them and they talk with me. Do I believe her? You bet your tooshy I do.  So Grace wants to know what door you need to be banging on?

Hmmm…it is not a good thing when a mommy has to call the hospital switch board to page Neurosurgery to get the on call to respond to  your husband and nurses page to your child’s room in the hospital. Tisk, tisk. Naughty doctor on call. He responded faster to me and had his stuff together and apologized profusely for 20 minutes.  In his defense he is one of our favorite docs and he never has had a run in with me and has heard of what I am capable of doing to residents who lack compassion and ethics caring for my child.  Now, mind you, I do not beat them up. I do however hold them to HIGH standards when treating my child.  You do not say oops…when treating my child and you do not, NOT return a page. You will not PRACTICE medicine on my child and you WILL step out of your text book and become a human being when treating my child.  You will NOT be rude and cut me off when I am asking questions and You WILL answer questions.  You WILL know that I know my child best and you will NOT challenge that fact.  Sounds harsh?  Nope, not after watching my daughter have over 30 brain surgeries in a year.  Not after taking many medical courses to educate myself and not after knowing that God called that Amazing Gracie Nicole by name and entrusted her care to us the day he placed her in our care.  He is the one that guides us.  So you might be asking, did I really do it?  You bet your butt I did…and I  will do it over and over again!  I am that fiery and I will fight for my child with every breath that I take.  Not only did I do that but I set up Skype with Tim before I left,  not only to help soothe Grace during times when she needed me but to keep tabs on her care and to make my presence known to all.  This momma does not play around.

Earlier today I had to talk with one of her Dr’s who insisted she still did not need a med change but yet I am on the phone and I can hear my child crying out in pain and the meds she was on was not touching her.  I promptly told Tim to hand him the phone and when he got on he was not receiving from me so I had to INSIST that he listen and boy was his undies in a wad  because his pride was in the way.  Well if you have that much pride in the way that you cannot see a child is in need of a new pain med I am going to over ride you and you are about to get it in a realllllly bad way.  So, hence the theme of the blog today: Another resident Dr. Bites the Dust.  I got him on the phone and let him know that it was NOT going to be tolerated. He tried to tell me that she had pain meds. I told him her body has built up a tolerance to the narcotic he was using as she had been on it so long for so many different times and he WAS going to change it.  He tried to tell me no and I promptly gave him a very vivid mental picture of a kick to his manhood, we could just ice it and when he cried out we could offer Tylenol but we did have something stronger but I am sure we do not want to do too many things at once just in case the ice or Tylenol could work???  Hmmm…so the new pain med is on board and Grace is NOT in pain any longer.   I also told him he needed to change the setting on her shunt and confirm it with an x-ray as the last time a HUGE error was made and it was wrong. He tried to argue with me the machine confirms it and is accurate and I said the last two time the machine was wrong and Grace was the brunt of the machines error and you will do what I ask.  He asked why I was trying to argue. I told him he had not seen me nor heard me argue this was me telling him to do what I asked.  I told  him once again you will order the x-ray, please and confirm.  He said okay.  Then I told him when my husband pages you through the nurse you will come to the room or at least let them know you are aware of the page and you will put the required orders in for the pain meds.  He answered yes.  He was on a roll once I had him understanding I meant business.

I had Tim on the phone and told him I wanted to speak to the nurse now.  I told her I was going to have Tim press the call bell every hour not to harass her but to send a message to her Dr. until all the changes were made and she was “you go mom”  It was not to punish the nurse but to send a message that we are not just measly parents sitting by leaving the care for our children up to them.  We are their voices. We have to stand up and be educated and also strong to say NO…you will not do that or NO you will do this or whatever it is you have to be in sync with the Holy Spirit and stand firm and not be bullied into making fearful decisions because they have MD behind their name. You have MOMMY and DADDY behind yours!

The nurse jumped on board and did not agree with the Dr at all…so she got the attending on call and went over his head.  So everything that I requested of the Resident on call earlier was placed in order.  When he came back in the room to see Grace I was on Skype with her and he was a totally different Dr.  He was respectful and Tim and I were like “wow”.  We saw the change in his whole demeanor.   Now our daughter is comfortable and not in pain at this moment.  We fought for what we knew was right. Never be afraid…when you know in your heart it is right you fight like mad to make it happen.

So after the resident left… mommy wanted to make her Grace laugh.  So I went to You Tube.  Where I found the song by Queen.  Another One Bites the Dust.  Gracie, Daddy and I sang it and danced to it on the web cams.  She laughed, smiled and just was happy.  If that is what it takes I am willing to do it all over again.  I am not afraid to fight for what I believe in…what fight do you need to believe in?

Quietness has escaped most of my days…seems like I have barley enough time to breath.  Sleep seems so far away during the day…then night comes to me and just when I think my body has exuded all my pent up energy, my mind rewinds over the days that I have simply lost due to so much chaos.  ”Where am I?” I ask my self as I am laying my weary head down on my gazillion pillows that don’t seem right.  I keep adjusting them thinking maybe this time will do the trick. I fail again.  My mind wanders on my children far and near…here and in heaven.  How time can be so kind and how time can be so cruel.  Every moment unfolds in my mind as I try and recapture moments of time spent with loved ones that melt my soul to the core of my being.   Memories flood, as I miss my eldest son Christopher who died almost five years ago.  The pain is so real.  His birthday is May 18th.  I see my other children missing him, Rebeccah, Anthony  and Grace suffer the most. I sit and night these last few weeks while Tim and Grace are in the hospital and think about all these things. Sleep does elude me.  Grace says she talks to Chris and God and has no problem sleeping. Ahhh…out of the mouths of babes.

To be child like to have that innocence.  The pure bliss of not knowing what I know.

Raising eight children is amazing. I want more. I love children. Children just seem to make sense.  I cannot ever fathom not having a house filled to the brim.  Too see their eyes filled with hope and wonder…to see their passion for life. Too see the wonders of the world through their eyes…it takes my breath away…see this is what I think about when I am lying on my mounds of pillows.  3am comes quickly…I shut my eyes…put my arm out looking for my lover…he is with Gracie in Hershey, PA…I sleep until 6am and am running again.  Little Reignah is diabetic, lots of doctor appointments.  Kadi is 16, lots of Doctor appointments this week.  Beccah 12 foot surgery last week…follow up this week…my mom has two doctor appoinmets this week….I have 5 this week for myself.  I do them all.  Sleep still does not come easily.

I wonder how I do it sometimes? Am I a freak of nature?  Am I just strong in God? What makes me keep going through all of this?  I can still smile, still find humor and still find passion for life.   I know I am just rambling away but it does a mind good to just unload and I guess I just wanted to unload.

Moms of Angels

May is a wonderful month; we are reminded of the “new life” that comes forth as we are thrust into spring. With holidays such as Mother’s Day approaching, I would like to share some suggestions of how to help those who are grieving the loss of a child. Whether or not you have lost a child to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillborn, or a live birth then a child’s death; Mother’s Day can be particularly difficult for these moms. Some moms find themselves with a void or hole in their heart everyday; the tragedy of losing a child is one that never really seems to heal. On these special days when the “identity” of being a parent/mom is so significant, the pain these moms feel can be multiplied leading her to more bereavement. More isolation. More sadness.

Our society forgets the fact there are women out in the world that have suffered great losses such as the loss of a child. Flower shops, card shops and other retail establishments are filled with Mother’s Day gifts and gift ideas. It is hard to find a place that carries a card that acknowledges these women who have had a short time with their little ones, that they are in every sense of the word a “mother.” Newspaper, radio and television advertisements help you “shop for that perfect something.” Church services are about honoring our mothers on this special day. The very sad truth to all of this is we leave some of these moms in our community, circle of friends and church bodies devastated.

Do you know someone who has lost a child to death? Are you uncomfortable thinking about them on this special day? Do you think that these mothers are not thinking of their son or daughter that have left this world? Do you think if you remind the mother of her precious child, who will be part of her heart and soul forever, that you will make her sad?

Would you like to help these mothers?

I can promise you they will be thinking of their child that has passed on. I can also guarantee you that mentioning this child to them or giving a hug and a whisper of “Happy Mother’s Day” in their ear will only bring them tears of joy, as finally someone remembers their little one who is not here with them. I can also guarantee letting them know you remember her identity as a mom of that sweet little one who died, and that you remember her child, for her, you just gave her another day worth living for.  This not only applies to a small child as well but to an older child that has passed on as well. We lost out oldest son Christopher Michael on June 10, 2005. I cannot tell you what it means to me when someone remembers my son.  Just think of the simple things you can do for someone and do them.  Do not fear of bringing back a bad memory.  Just think of how hearing the name of their beloved child will soothe the depths of their soul.

I have suffered 12 miscarriages and 1 ectopic pregnancy. Having someone remember these little babes that are no longer here with me means the world to me as their mom. Just because I cannot hold them, watch them grow or guide them through life does not erase the fact that I am a mother to them. So as this Mother’s Day approaches, please take time to reflect and remember these moms with a card, phone call, kind word or small gift. It will mean the world to them and it may just bring forth the healing they have been so desperately searching for.

~Chelle is the owner of Womens-Place, a proud Mother of eight beautiful children and fourteen beautiful angels, She is also a loving wife to her talented, and pretty darn cute, hubby, Tim. The boards are her passion, and she proves it daily with her inspirational posts and wonderful advice. She looks forward to spending this Mother’s Day loving and thinking about all her children.

Honor Thy Mother

Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and I’m sure we’ve all got plans to run out and get a card and/or small gift for the woman who gave us life. But have you stopped to think about how people pay tribute to Mothers in other parts of the world?

The following article was taken from India Times: Spirituality. Because it had such excellent information about how Mothers are celebrated elsewhere, I did not want to lessen it by trying to paraphrase, so here it is in full:

Festivals In Honour Of Mothers While Mother’s Day is the most important international festival celebrated in honour of mothers, there are several other festivals that celebrate the mother figure. Here are a few of them:

The people of ancient Phrygiain Asia Minor held an annual festival honouring the goddess Cybele, considered the mother of all gods.
The Greeks celebrated a festival in spring to honour the goddess Rhea. They made offering of food and fruits early in the morning.
The festival of Hilaria was celebrated from March 15 to March 18 by ancient Romans to venerate the mother of gods, Magna Mater or Great Mother. Likewise, the Romans had a mother of all the gods, and she was Magna Mater, or Great Mother.
The Christians celebrated a festival in honour of the ‘Mother Church’ on the fourth Sunday in Lent by bringing gifts and offerings to the church they were baptised in.
During the Middle Ages, people in England celebrated ‘Mothering Sunday’ that coincided with the festival of Mother Church. On this day, children who worked far from home went to see their mothers with gifts of cakes and trinkets. This was called going ‘a-mothering’.
Both Argentina and India observe Mother’s Day in October. In Argentina, mothers are honored on the second Sunday of the month, while Hindus in India celebrate Mother’s Day with a ten-day festival in early October. This festival is called Durga Puja in honour of Durga, the Divine Mother and most important Hindu goddess in India.
Serbians in parts of Yugoslavia also celebrate Mother’s Day, called ‘Materice’, in December. Two weeks before Christmas, boys and girls quietly ‘tie’ their mother up while she is still sleeping. Upon awakening, she gives the children small gifts she has hidden under her pillow in exchange for her ‘release’.

A newer celebration of and for Moms by Moms is Mamapalooza, “for Moms who rock!” It is a festival that showcases Moms and their creativity through song, art, poetry, dance and various other imaginative endeavors. According to their site, “MAMAPALOOZA is dedicated to honoring, celebrating and acknowledging the struggles and victories of mothers everywhere.” If the festival is coming to an area near you, I would highly recommend going. What an awesome sight it must be to be amongst others like yourself rejoicing in our role as Mom.

For those of you looking to do something a little more subdued and traditional, you can always check your local paper for Mother’s Day events such as brunches, teas or fairs. No matter what you decide to do, make Mother’s Day the best day you can, and enjoy it for yourself as a woman. Every woman in the world is an important part of life, and we all deserve this day for ourselves. Even those without children are Mother’s in their heart, so celebrate Mother’s Day for every woman everywhere!

Host Julie is the Mother of two boys, and she is thankful every day for the opportunity to watch them grow. Being a Mom is the job of a lifetime, and she hopes she is living up to the title “Mother” in the eyes of every woman.

May is both National Salad and National Hamburger Month. What a perfect month to celebrate these two foods as the weather heats up in most of the country and people start looking towards grilled foods and cooler side dishes. Also with Memorial Day as the kick-off weekend for many people to begin grilling, it’s great timing for salad and burger tips and new recipes for both.

Several theories surround the beginning of the hamburger. During the Middle Ages, the warriors would carry patties of ground lamb or mutton that they could eat with one hand while handling their horse with the other. Beginning in the 1400’s, eating minced meat became a delicacy. The chopped or ground meat would be eaten raw and called steak tartare. The most common theory is that the sandwich originated from Hamburg, Germany, where they ate salted, dried beef on a roll. The immigrants brought this favorite food to the United States because the dried beef was ideal for keeping on the long sea voyage. The beef was quite hard, so in order to eat it they would mince it, then sometimes add soaked breadcrumbs and chopped onion to make it stretch farther. Since this was such a favorite food, they continued to make the “Hamburg steak” once living in the United States, but began to make it with fresh meat instead of the previously dried.

Today’s burgers have been come a long, long way thanks in big part to fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, White Castle and Wendy’s. They can be served plain with just the burger and the bun or with the works. There are also many variations available for the non-beef eater; you can enjoy ground turkey, ground chicken or even ground lamb. However you like your burger, most hamburger lovers would agree that the best burger is served straight off the grill. A good choice for the basic burger is made with 80% lean ground chuck seasoned with salt and ground pepper. Shape into patties ¾-inch thick and grill directly over medium heat until desired doneness, turning only once. Serve immediately on toasted buns with your favorite condiments and vegetables.

Some delicious burger recipes to try this summer:
Hometown Burgers
Bold ‘n’ Saucy Cheeseburger
Bobby Flay’s Green Chile Cheeseburgers
Cuban-style Burgers on the Grill – another Bobby Flay specialty
Garden Turkey Burgers
Vegetable Lover’s Burger – for the veggies in the crowd

Although, a burger is a delicious main entrée in a meal, it cries out for the perfect side. During the hot spring and summer months, nothing accompanies a meal better than a scrumptious cold salad. Salads can be all vegetables, or mainly pasta with a few vegetables thrown in, or they can be made entirely of fruit. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to salad. No matter how you toss it, salads are ideal dishes that can be made ahead and then pulled out of the refrigerator or cooler when dinner is served. Since many salads use mayonnaise or other similar bases, make sure to follow food safety guidelines for storage and handling.

A sampling of simply scrumptious salad recipes from the W-P Cookbook…
Admin Tisha’s Black Bean and Corn Salad
Larisa’s Broccoli Salad
Admin Lynette’s Asian Asparagus Salad
KeeMacMom’s Crisp Cucumber and Melon Chicken Salad
Host Michelle’s Bok Choy and Tomato Salad
Admin Lynette’s Summer Fruit Combo

As the weather heats up and you feel like you just might melt, your menu is going to cry out for a delicious grilled burger and a salad. Grab a tall glass of iced tea and give one of these yummy recipes a try. Your family will thank you for serving burgers and maybe, just maybe, they won’t complain about the big bowl of broccoli salad for them to eat with it.

Host Lynette is a wife, mom, food lover and amateur chauffeur from the Pacific Northwest. She loves to cook and summertime is one of her favorite times to create in the kitchen with all the fresh fruits and vegetables. She is also the preferred griller in the family as the kids just aren’t fans of the “blackened” items dad likes to cook.

The most exciting part of a family garden tends to be the area created by children. By letting the kids in your life help with the choosing and planting of your flowers, you add a special touch to your garden no other home will have. This month, we asked the WP kids to show us what they thought beautiful flowers looked like, and they came up with some of the most unique and colorful blooms we’ve ever seen. We wish we could grow some just like them in our own gardens!

My dad is one of the best gardeners I know. He takes huge pride in his vegetable gardens and flowers beds. I was raised eating the freshest vegetables and fruits that we had grown ourselves. I, also, always had the luxury of being able to pick giant bouquets filled with many different kinds of flowers. My dad’s love of gardening was definitely passed along to me. Unfortunately, I did not inherit all of his “green” thumb. Mine is really more of a brownish shade with an occasional green fleck. Over the years I have been able to glean a lot of helpful information from my dad and morph that into my own smaller scale style. I have learned that, with just a little work and a few handy hints, gardening doesn’t have to be laborious. It can actually be fun and quite easy.

1. Make a plan on paper first. Using a pencil, draw a sketched layout of your front, back and side yards. Draw in existing beds and any other features in your yard, such as sheds, play structures, etc. Make notes about what plants you already have and draw them into your map. Also, feel free to put your dream ideas for the future down. It never hurts to write those ideas down for “someday,” but if you have a shortage of time and energy then focus on the areas of your yard that are most visible to you and to others. If you start small you can focus on those beautiful areas of your yard, and they will help distract you from the ones you don’t like as well.

2. Determine the sun exposure for all the areas of your yard. Spend a couple days paying close attention to which areas of your yard get full sun, which get sun in the morning or afternoon and are shaded other parts of the day and which areas do not ever seem to emerge out of the shadows. This will make a huge difference in determining where you should plan your gardens and also what you will plant in those different gardens. Vegetable gardens need to be in a sunny location that receives at least 8 hours a day of sunlight. It will save you a huge amount of time and money in the long run, if you do this step now. There is nothing more frustrating than forking out the bucks for a beautiful plant, taking the time to care for it properly, and then having it die anyway because it was a shade loving plant that was withering in the full sun.

3. Be sure you have the correct tools. You will need a soaker hose, hoe, shovel, hand trowel, gardening gloves, fertilizer, old clothes/shoes and for me, a portable stereo tuned to a baseball game or a stack of CD’s for listening. I enjoy my work outside so much more when I am prepared and when I can sing along to a favorite song or cheer on my beloved Mariner’s. I find Home Depotand Lowe’s perfect places for purchasing outdoor tools. They have good quality tools for much less than the price you will find at garden stores. There is also a Home Depot Canada for our friends in the northern part of the region.

4. Prepare your soil first. Make sure you have your beds prepped and ready to go before you venture off to the garden supply store to buy plants or seeds. Once your beds are ready, then you can make just one trip to the store. Also, you may find while working your soil that it needs some beefing up. You can purchase compost or additional fertilizer while you’re there.

5. Determine which plants are correct for your zone. Not all plants are created equal. Plants of the succulent variety are going to flourish in the southwest with its intense heat, where the hale and hearty cruciferous vegetables are much more comfortable in the deep, rich soils of the north that are warmed by the spring sun. To determine which plants will thrive in your area, click on virtual Library for Gardening. There are international, as well as, regional US sites that will help you out.

6. Plant when the time is right. For most of North America, the perfect planting season is right now – springtime. Once the danger of frost has passed, the warmer spring temperatures, accompanied by the spring rain are perfect planting times. It also gives the plants a full growing season to get their roots deep into the ground before winter arrives once again. According to Garden Place.com, the second best time to plant it in autumn before the freezing temperatures hit. If you find yourself wanting to plant during the summer months, choose a cloudy day or plant during a spell of cloudy weather. This will help the young, tender plants so they do not wither in the intense heat.

7. Perennials are your friends. One rule of thumb I have tried to subscribe to in my garden beds is the use of perennials. Although they cost a bit more at the outlay, they take the same amount of time to plant and they will return year after year. The work you did this year, you will not have to repeat next year and can use that time to plant another bed or to spruce up the ones you have.

8. Buy quality One gardening tip that my dad absolutely swears by is purchasing hybrid seeds. They cost only a fraction more, but are so worth it in the end with the quality vegetable or fruit you end up with. I remember all the many seed catalogs that began to arrive in January and how much fun it was to look at all the luscious vegetables pictured on the pages. Although many, many catalogs make their way to his house, he is a long time purchaser of seeds from both Burpee’s Seeds and Plants and Jung’s Quality Seeds, and he recommends both to everyone that asks him about his gardens.

9. Plan your vegetables and flowers, so they will come up in succession. This will keep the harvest flowing from early spring to late fall. Find out the dates in advance and schedule time to plant accordingly. If you are planting a vegetable garden, try peas, spinach and radishes for early spring planting, tomatoes, peppers and summer squash for the summer months, and delicious broccoli will thrive in an early fall harvest. Try a similar pattern with your flowers. Bulbs are perfect to plant in the late fall for early spring color and in the spring, you can plant bulbs for fall color. Take a look at the different perennials in the store and select ones that will peak at differing times, keeping the beauty in your beds throughout the season.

10. Spend an hour or two each week in upkeep. Once everything is planted, you will need to maintain all that hard work by keeping up with the watering, fertilizing, thinning and weeding. By keeping your plants healthy and away from crowding, you will go a long way to warding off needless pests and bugs. Watering is a daily or sometimes twice daily chore. While you are giving your plants a healthy drink, look them over. Pluck any dead leaves or visible bugs, and make mental notes if a particular kind of plant is doing exceptionally well or exceptionally poorly. These notes you can later write down on your yard map for future use.

Gardening is both rewarding and relaxing for people of all ages. It is one of those topics that can cross all generations and will give you something to talk about with your little kids, as well as your grandmother. My hope was that these tips would help make gardening for the inexperienced gardener a little less overwhelming. Gardening is truly about enjoying what nature has to offer, so don those gloves and boots and head on out. The soil is calling you.

For additional gardening links I recommend the following … Garden Web, Organic Gardening, Kid Gardening, Womens-Place Gardening Forum and Better Homes & Gardens.

Check out the Top Must Have Gardening Gadgets and Things!

Lynette is a wife and full time mom of 4 from the Pacific Northwest. After much convincing from her older son, she planted a small garden last year. Since her sons had such a wonderful time tending the garden and picking the harvest, she will definitely be planting again this year.