Planting a Garden

For a few years now my dad has always wanted a small garden of fresh herbs at the house that he can use to cook up his food masterpieces with. I have tried to grow different herbs for him from seeds in past summers but it never worked out good. Either too much water or not enough, and it seem to take a long time to get the plants large enough where you can actually use them.

The last time I visited my parent's house my mom and I went out to Home Depot to do some garden shopping. Out front there were racks of all different herbs in small pots on display. We decided to pick some up for him as a surprise. We got oregano, basil, parsley, cilantro, and thyme plants. We searched for the healthiest plants of each for his garden creation. We also picked up a long rectangular planter and soil so that we can get it all done for him. All the herbs smelled great in the summer heat.

At home my mom set up the soil in the planter and we planted each one with plenty of space to grow. It ended up looking real good so we gave it a good drink of water and placed it out in the late afternoon sun. When my dad got home later that day I showed him what we had put together for him. He was ohh-ing and ahh-ing all the different herbs as I read them off to him. "Ohh that's great I can make up some lemon thyme chicken, ohh great I can make up some pasta sauce with fresh oregano." He was all excited about the food possibilities.

It felt great to finally set my dad up with the herb garden that he has always wanted outside his kitchen. I'm looking forward to all the good food that I know will come out of this. Once we had finished getting it all together I was thinking how strange it was that it had taken so many summers for this happen. It was something that we all had wanted to do but never had finished before.

Sometimes when I feel I don't have any time constraint on me I have a harder time getting done what I need done. When I am working on things for work or for others I always try and get them done on time or early, but I'm not as conscious with my own dreams. Getting this small garden done for my dad reminded me that it's important to set goals and deadlines even when it's only for myself. Maybe it's more important when it's only for myself.

I realized how sad I would be if I had never put the time into making this small garden for him and for me. Tomorrow is never promised to us, this should be deadline enough.