THE ALZHEIMER'S GARDEN

Found this in my journal written a couple of years ago.  Thought I would share it:

I hope this will not be insensitive or disrespectful.  It is simply one of my ways of looking at and dealing with my darling who is no longer the darling I used to know.  You have heard the expression laugh to keep from crying.

He didn’t really know anything about gardening before his little brain cells started to get scrambled.

Now all he can think about doing is pruning back the plants or moving them.  He also loves tilling up stuff - a man and his machinery!  Well, what difference does it make?  For 50 years we did not even try to grow vegetables; so what difference does it make now if we work in the garden and still don’t grow vegetables?  He used to risk his life racing motorcycles; this will only risk the life of the plants. 

Our garden looks really nice and tidy right now but not as productive as it should be.  We work in it a lot but we have had a lot of setbacks. 

AN ADVENTURE IN ASPARAGUS

We had 4 stands of asparagus – easy to grow but it takes a long time.  Ours was about 5 years old and doing really good.  We ate a lot of fresh asparagus and even had enough to give some away to friends.  So one day he decides he would like to move it to another spot.  I think well, why not.  It will give him something to do. 

But first we have to move something so we have a spot to move it to.  A lot of work and a set back to the raspberries. We dig up the raspberries from the bed behind the shop and move them to the regular garden – a plant that also takes TIME.  Then we move the lovely section of garden fence – black metal and good looking.  A lot of work and a set back to my false dragon head where the fence went in.   Then we dig up one stand of the asparagus and move it to the bed where the raspberries used to be.  A lot of work and a setback to the asparagus.

Then this Spring he accidently tilled up another stand of asparagus and half of the chives before I saw him and ran out waving my arms to save the asparagus and chives - but too late.  Not much work but a setback to another stand of asparagus and a few chives.

 A few weeks later he had the weed eater edging around the garden and decided to weed eat the raspberries.  He got half way down the row before I noticed.  Once again I go racing out of the house arms waving.  He had only chopped down half the row.  Said it looked like weeds to him.  Not much work and maybe only a small set back to the raspberries.  The ones that were cut down are really putting out (he thinks that is a strange expression) and looking full.

He has complained a lot this spring that we don’t have much asparagus. Well, he is sure right about that.  He thinks bugs have gotten into it and ruined it – Only one bug but it was a BIG ONE  Has something happened to it?  Do we just need to dig it up and forget it?  My answer is No no no – lets leave it be for a little while.