Gardening

Its that time of year again. People start talking about starting their new gardens. One of the few conversations nmother and I had that wasnt strained or overly polite was about gardening. S is an avid gardener, less so now due to health issues. We talked quite a bit about our gardens and favorites. It was great. It also reminded me of how much I lost not being raised by my mother.
I grew up in the Southwest. Not exactly a great place to garden. When I was about ten, my aparents had our above ground pool removed. I thought that the old pool site would be perfect for a garden. I was clueless. My aparents had no interest in the outdoors and no interest in what interested me. I tried though. I dug up a good size area and planted seeds. I watered and watered and nothing happened. I finally gave up. Now I realize that the soil was compacted and needed compost etc.
Since I have moved here I have dabbled in gardening. Our first house here had very little soil and the yard was rocky. I had an area with lots of potted plants. When we moved here I was determined to garden. Not easy to do with a newborn, so I put it off. The times I have really made an effort, nature has defeated me. My first site, which I cleared all the grass etc out, got flooded in a freak storm. I moved the garden. This next site, got mauled by wild pigs. I tried again. This time it was going well, but we got a minature horse and she got caught in the fence. I gave up. I kept a few herbs in pots but figured I would stick to trees.
Well a friend has moved into our guest house (half of it anyway). He is a gifted gardener. When I told him how I worked to remove the grass from a large area, roto till it etc, he said why? Just dig a hole and stick the seeds in. I guess I fell for the "Martha Stewart" gardening methods of making it perfect. So now we have marked out an area and plan to fence it. He brought over a bunch of herb plants too. Maybe his green thumb will wear off onto me.
Its sad. Its that time of year again. I still havent heard from my mother. At least if she calls, we can talk plants.