The family plan?

I really don't plant my garden on the family plan. I simply share if I have enough to share. This rationale escapes a few family members. Well, okay, only ONE family member.

At a recent family gathering, I was asked if I planted a garden this year, and if I did, what did I plant? When I told her I planted Bell peppers, she jumped on the "gimme" train. I told her, with the appropriate amount of sadness, that last year I had four pepper plants and I got ONE pepper. This didn't make an impact.

I feel like my pepper harvest is now doomed. Or jinxed. Something. 

Gardening is intensive work. The seeds are planted, then the sprouts are transplanted to larger individual pots to grow. Soil is amended with expensive fertilizers. Young plants are replanted yet again in their permanent location. Pest controls are implemented. Watering and weeding are daily chores. If there is produce to harvest, it goes on for at least a month. 

And you want something for free? 

It's not that I don't enjoy sharing my harvest - just not with anyone who EXPECTS me to share.

There is a difference.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, Bell peppers, produce sharing, managing expectations, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, m/m romance