Garden Party

 AUBURN, Maine — I'd rather reach for a rake or a shovel than a weapon when life goes awry.

People are killing each other over the lamest excuses, but I spend hours growing a garden and watching my son mature into a fine young man each summer.

When I am angry, I get down and dirty with a hoe, worms, spiders, and a handful of seeds. I experience paradise when I tune into a Boston Red Sox game on the radio while I weed the garden. Life doesn't get any better on a warm summer day - especially when Boston is beating up the Yankees.

Growing vegetables is no longer a pastime. It has become a necessity thanks to rising fuel prices and shrinking natural resources. Buying food means taking out a short-term loan every week, and if you are trying to eat healthy, I hope your wallet is filled with cash. And if you don't munch on the right foods, doctors don't mind taking your money as you battle obesity.

The world is upside down, our leaders no longer lead, and people ignore each other as they bang out useless texts on their overused cell phones.

We've gone to hell in a hand basket, but there has been one constant through the years - gardening. The nation is ruled by it like an army of empty stomachs.

The garden is my refuge. All this patch of earth demands is water, natural fertilizer and a great deal of tender loving care. And what do you get from all this dirt? Big, beautiful vegetables free of chemicals. If you have a big yard, dig up a slice of it and plant vegetables. Life will be easier at the cash register and your health will only improve.

And your pallet and stomach will thank you for it.

While May was a cruel month thanks to eight days of cold rain, summer turned the corner when June arrived. I planted the last day of May, which is traditional in central Maine. The ground is no longer cold, the sun is stronger and there is less of threat of a late frost - a garden's arch-enemy. It's been known to happen here in the hinterlands.

I watch this annual experiment in my backyard take root as the warm sun strengthens my yearlings. I add natural fertilizer around each plant to give my vegetables a boost - and then I cross my fingers and think of one the greatest gardeners in the world - my grandfather - who arrived in the United States in 1904 from the old country - Italy. His tomatoes were second to none and my grandmother made an excellent pasta sauce out of the fruits of his labor.

It is late June and I am already consuming freshly grown lettuce. I planted 18 heads of the green stuff and it is doing well. I have two apple and cherry trees blooming and raspberries, blue berries, and grapes are ripening on the vine.

The lettuce is way out in front, but now my other vegetables are catching up as July makes its warm and welcomed approach. My cucumbers (I had one casualty) are crawling along the ground and my tomatoes (one KIA) are inching up through their iron cages. My zucchini and summer squash are blooming and it won't be long before they see the inside of my skillet. Broccoli is a picture of health and my carrots (I planted them by seed) have burst through the soil. I am now waiting on my melons and cauliflower to make an appearance.

I eagerly await for all my vegetables to come to fruition because you can't buy produce that is pesticide free - and there are vegetable casseroles to be made in my kitchen.

So stay away from the dollar menu and burn off a few pounds raising a garden. Your digestive track will be grateful and you keep doctors at arms length.