My parents were quietly reading in their favorite chairs when I, their nine-year-old son, approached with a question. “May I start a vegetable garden in the backyard?” They looked at each other in wonder. Neither one of them had any interest in gardening. “Ah … well … sure,” my dad answered. After a while, curiosity brought Mom and Dad out to the backyard. There they found me manfully laboring away with a shovel longer than myself.

That began a lifelong passion for growing things. Pictured is my Washington vegetable garden. Deer make fencing it necessary. The raised beds protect the plants from rabbits. This small space, intensively cultivated, produces a LOT.

Raspberries are our best crop. In Washington, they are determined to thrive. The tall light green bushes nearest our garden shed multiplied from one plant. The aggressive raspberry then extended a root under the pavement to colonize the bed on the left. Twice I rooted them out. But they persisted until this spring I surrendered that bed to then.

I hope you have a hobby. If not, try raspberries. All they need is water and protection from deer.

Drew