The Country Life....

Apparently where I live now is considered "out in the country".. And I am therefore now a "Country Person"... Who Knew?!

Actually, this is laughable as the house sits on only an acre and a quarter. And while it is pretty rural compared to all the beastly "zero lot line", baby shit pastel colored boxes that litter the landscape of La Republica del Florida it isn't country in my experience.

But, when in Cuba/Columbia/Guatemala/Mexico/Mogadishu/aka Hell, you just have to go with the flow. Because shooting those that tell you that you live in the country would simply take too much ammunition. (And I'm going to need it once YOUR beloved Clown Prince all ya'll voted into the presidency bans the sale of anything more advanced than a slingshot.)


Since I am now officially Country Folk, I decided I needed to live up to the image. So, I decided to grow a garden. Off I went to the local Lowe's, which is only a few miles from the ol' homestead and picked up some supplies. I bought 3 tomato plants (celebrity, and big beef varieties), a rosemary plant, a Serrano pepper plant, and some okra seeds. I also picked up some wire cages to protect them from falling over, and my housemate driving the lawn tractor. ( he'll mow over anything smaller than a sapling.)


I also bought a huge 3 burner 42,000 BTU "Char-Griller" brand BBQ that is roughly the size of a locomotive. Ahem....


Apparently this has only cemented for all time my image to that of a redneck with a myriad of people at work. When I mentioned I was growing okra most of them looked at me as if I was wearing overalls and a straw hat. It was actually funny.


See, my parents are basically the first generation that don't live in the country. My grandparents and great grandparents were all rural folk. Hell, I actually have a picture of my great grandmother sitting on her mothers lap in front of the log cabin they lived in. All of my life, even though we were a military family, we always had a garden of some sort. Pole beans, carrots, lettuce, tomatos, peppers, squash, copious amounts of jalapenos and yes OKRA.. I've had it fried, baked, boiled, and pickled. It was a summer staple at the dinner table. Ya'll city folk don't know what yer missin'. And it grows like a weed...


But no vegetable was more popular than tomatoes... Ever... My dad grew those things by the bushel. And it was no small feat in some of the base housing we lived in. But every growing season, come hell or high water there were tomato's ripening on the window ledge, in bowls, and lined up on the kitchen counters. Many a lunch was tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches, or even just sliced tomato sprinkled with salt.


My dad was thrilled when I told him I was carrying on the tradition of the garden. So much so that he bought some upside down tomato growing thingie on amazon and is having it shipped to me. Apparently the the next big thing for growing maters' and all the popular kids have one. It made me laugh.


So, I'm going to have to add Gentleman Farmer to my resume it seems. If the crop comes in well, I may actually make some raised garden beds along the north fence line and grow big. Then I could add melons, and cucumbers. We'll see.


other news;


School starts next Wednesday.. (shudder)