Our tomatoes are in!

Three-year-old William Spence Newby and I got down to work on Friday, March 20. Maybe I should say, we got down to play, for we both had a wonderful time planting our 2009 tomatoes. I had prepared the soil in the flowerbed before William arrived. His job was to put the plants into the ground.

At first William was hesitant to step in the dirt. I told him it was like playing in the sand at the beach, and that did the trick. When William found a few rocks in the freshly turned soil, I suggested that he toss them out of the bed. This became the highlight of the planting ceremony: plant a little; toss a little; plant a little; toss a little. We managed to get 9 plants inside the bed; then we went to work on the soil in the rest of our garden. William used his whole body to mix some revitalizing compounds in with the South Austin dirt.

After planting all our tomatoes, it was time to water. This is what William loves to do best. So he watered. And watered.

When it seemed that all our work might just float down the street, we “shut her off.” Then we admired our work and William headed for the bath tub.

There are only two things that money can’t buy…and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes. With my precious grandson, William, I have it all!