The Garden

Once it's named I talk to it every day after school before I go out to play because grandma told me that it helps them grow quicker. I believe her too, because I used to just plant my seeds and feed them, and it was a good eight weeks or so before they were ripe enough to pick - now, since I've started nurturing them like grandma told me too, I'm producing more than ever before. It only took five weeks before we picked Sally and ate her - that was the fastest that one of mine has ever bloomed!

Mom does the cooking, but I always like to watch. I'll ask over and over again if I can help with the food preparation, but it's always the same - "Cooking's for the adults, and plantings for the children. Now, you know that, honey, so stop asking me. Someday when you grow up and have a little girl, you' ll be in charge of making all the food yourself." I know I'll do a good job too, because sometimes mother will be making a dish, and I'll catch her forgetting an ingredient. She always looks embarrassed, but I can tell she's proud too, because she knows that her daughter is going to make a great cook someday!

One thing that I don't like is that mother won't ever let me have my friends over for dinner when she's cooking the food out of my garden - she says it's a secret garden that only our family knows about, and she'll punish me if I tell my classmates about all the good meals that we eat. I just don't understand that, but mother keeps telling me that I'll understand once I'm older. I don't know what that means, but when I'm grown up and have my own kitchen, I'm going to cook food from the secret garden for everyone I know, because it's the best food around!

We're having grandma over for dinner tonight. I love it when grandma comes over to eat with us because mother will always make an extra-special meal. Earlier today, I saw her preparing some vegetables, so I bet that she's either making a stew or some stir fry - either way I get to go to my garden and pick out something nice and ripe to put in the dish. I always dress nice for grandma, because mother says that it is disrespectful to dress casually when company comes over. Sometimes grandma will bring me a five-dollar bill for no reason at all - just because she loves me, I guess. I know that I should save some of the money that grandma gives me, but I always just end up riding my bike to the candy store and spending it all.

"Honey, how would you like to go help your mother out with dinner, and pick me out something special from your garden?"

"Yes mother, I'll be right in with something wonderful for grandma's meal!"

I don't like it when mother yells to me from the other room. Sometimes I'll pretend not to hear her when she does that, but right now I'm anxious to see how all my new seeds are growing.

The scene is so beautiful looking out from our house into the backyard. Sometimes when it's nice outside, I'll slide open the big glass door, pull up a chair, and just sit behind the screen door for hours on end, drinking lemonade and watching the garden. The wooden fence around our yard is so high that none of the neighbors can see inside, so it's like a special private pasture all for me! Lots of animals come and visit the garden, and that makes it interesting.