We've lived here, in what was called "Tuscawilla Hammock" on old maps, for 14 years. This small bit of natural woods in North Central Florida is our sanctuary. The children know nothing else of home, other than when we travel for business and set up in an apartment some place else for a few weeks or months. Traveling is an adventure, but so is living here. God provides amazing creatures, and new plants push their way up through the leaf mulch every spring. The house is in a small clearing, where we have enough sun to keep the mosquitos at bay during the daytime. The driveway is long, and occasionally we can't get out because a tree has fallen during the night. The children run wild and barefoot through the woods. They have named their favorite play locations and drawn highly accurate maps from memory.
My first garden was prematurely leveled by my mow-happy husband who thought pepper plants were weeds. He also thought the azaleas were weeds. I took a decade-long hiatus from gardening. Last year I tried again. We had plenty of Roma tomatoes, small yellow squash and zuchinni, anaheim peppers, and beautiful okra. A handful of pole beans grew up a bamboo teepee, but the deer nibbled what they could reach. The deer also took the tops off two dozen sunflower plants. One lovely plant in the corner nearest the house survived to produce a bright yellow flower.
This year the garden is in a new location. The compost is enclosed within the garden fence, but the two labrador retrievers pried the wooden pickets off the fence to plunder the rotten onions composting amongst the coffee grounds and mellon rinds. We've reinforced it with chicken wire. Watermelon plants are in the ground, along with grape tomato plants and Early Girl tomatoes. We are using newspaper and hay to battle weeds. My 15-year-old son has taken a big interest in helping this year. He worked for 8 hours one weekend, hand tilling and pulling weeds.
Last week I ran a few miles with Maggie. The orange blossoms were blooming, along with the azaleas, wisteria, violets, and spider worts. We ran from one intoxicating fragrance to the next. The limerock road was dazzling white, the sky an amazing clear blue, and trees the promising green of spring. The breeze is cool, for now. Soon it will be hot - too hot. But for now, it's spring!
