I think a lot about my kingdom as I walk in my garden. It may be presumptuous to call it a garden considering it started out a rock pile…it still is. I carried orange peels, onion skins, tea leaves and coffee grounds and put them among the rocks. There must be a whole coffee can of compost by now…valuable stuff.

I invited any living plant to come live with me many did and lost their lives trying to survive the summer. The one that showed up a volunteer in the driveway was a kindred spirit it stayed and we became good friends. I moved it to the corner of the fence…I love it. It did just what I asked, it covers that area of the yard blocking the view from my neighbor’s window, now I can go out in my pajamas and visit each guest that still lives here and gather my crops. This morning I had six strawberries. They have sent out long arms moving here and there trying to outrun the slugs who visit after drops of water falls.

In the main garden area I hauled in mountains of dirt…let me rephrase that, ‘’black gold’’ as it is called in the trades, precious soil blessed by the Gods and the zeros behind the price verifies it. All the trees in the north state sent out their scouts to inform their runners to suck up any moisture or food they could thieve. I now possess most of the roots in this county.

I still own part of my kingdom I’m grateful for, two sick fruit trees and a gift Willow stick that presumed on my good nature and sent roots to China thus it blocks out any sun I might use to grow tomatoes, to be fair one needs shade more than tomatoes at a hundred and ten degrees. I love walking among my survivors in my PJs with my elixir morning cup of coffee.

The King spent some time troubled with grass from the fields of his kingdom, you know the story he ate his. We may have some things in common another name for grass is weeds…. They’re my best crops.