The Garden Miracle: Part 1 of 2

My husband Jim always loved to hunt, fish, garden anything that had to do with the outdoors. He was born and raised in New York City but always had a love for the country. After we had been married for quite some time and our two girls were off and on their own, we decided to purchase a house in the country a little closer to where they lived. One of the first things my husband did after settling in was to plant a large vegetable garden, approximately 50 feet long and 25 feet wide, fenced in with two gates because we had very friendly deer and other animals running around. Our garden produced the largest and most beautiful vegetables I had ever seen.  I asked Jim where he learned about gardening.

He said, “Ask any gardener and he’ll be glad to tell you what to do.”

Jim was very proud of his garden.  At 5:30 every morning he would be out tending the garden, weeding and watering it. He would always bring in something special he had picked, a head of lettuce, or some parsley, beaming with a big smile.

One day he brought me a large zucchini which I would later on stuff and bake for supper.

As I was washing the zucchini I thought about my friend whose husband had passed away the week before and said to myself, I should stop by her house to make sure she’s alright. I looked at the zucchini and remembered what a good cook my friend was.  So I decided to go to the garden and pick out a zucchini to bring to her.  I picked the largest one, washed it and brought it to her, which brought a big smile to her face as she thanked me.   My heart was warmed and I knew I had picked the right present to bring her.

That evening Jim came home and went to water the garden and in just a few minutes he ran back to the house and screamed, “Who picked the large zucchini?”

I said, “I did.”

I never in my entire married life knew that this man had a temper. He was always very quiet and calm, even when he was mad. My husband, a grown adult, had a temper tantrum that would rival any two year old.

He yelled and yelled at me and said, “You picked a zucchini without asking me? Not just any zucchini either but the largest one out there? I break my back working in that garden, I sweat and weed and toil, I do all the work, and you pick a zucchini!”

He ran out the back door, still yelling, and I heard him say, “I’m not going to work in this garden any more.”

He pulled the water hose out of the garden and rolled it up and put it away.  I watched in silence.

At this point of my story you must understand, the garden was never my hobby and I never entered the garden unless Jim told me that something was ready to be picked, he even had to tell me where that vegetable was in the garden. The garden was Jim’s private domain.

Later on Jim came back in for supper.  I said, “You shouldn’t be angry about the garden.  If you don’t water it, it will die!”

He said, “Let it die!”

I answered, “You shouldn’t talk like that, you’re putting a curse on the garden.”  Jim glared at me and did not answer.