Vegetable Garden Analysis

This year Erin and I decided to become farmers and try out growing some vegetables. Being the engineer that I am I figured it would be worth performing some detailed tracking to see if was actually worth the time and the money to care for them. In addition we had some container plants that received significantly more sun than the plants in the ground. Below are my results:
Containers - 89 vegetables, 8.6 pounds valued at $ 44.00
In Ground - 153 vegetales, 15.2 pounds valued at $71.00
Total - 242 vegetables, 23.8 pounds valued at $115.00. Total investment was about $80 dollars resulting in a savings of $35. This however does not take into account the many hours I spent tending to it.

Cayenne Peppers - 59 total, .875 pounds, $ 1.75
Cubanele Peppers - 24 Total, 2.6 pounds, $ 5.25
Eggplant - 12 total - 2.9 pounds, $11.62
Peppers (Green, Red, Yellow) - 46 total, 12.15 pounds, $84.45
Jalepenos - 42 total, 1.6 pounds, $ 3.10
Okra - 59 total, 3.7 pounds, $ 5.57
Squash - Zilch

In conclusion only the eggplant and peppers produced enough value to cover the costs of growing them, although it was always nice to be able to go pick something straight from the ground to cook fresh. Also, dealing with the containers to get more sunlight did not yield what I expected although we did start this part several weeks later. We also grew herbs and had multiple harvests of basil, oregano, dill, and have a rosemary plant that is still growing strong.

A little fun in Texas

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a Worsham trip if we didn't have a little bit of fun.

There were a few times throughout the week in Texas where all of us needed to blow off some steam. Fortunately, the camera was around to capture some potential blackmail pics ...

Patsy

This week we had an unexpected trip to Texas. Almost as soon as we got home from Philly, we received a call from Brad’s uncle telling us that Brad’s grandmother Patsy had passed away. I think we were both in shock when we heard … anyone that met Patsy knew that she was so full of life, we were expecting to have her with us for a long time to come.

So, we went to Texas and we mourned and it was so easy to think of all the things we had lost. But rather than focusing on what we lost, we're trying to focus on what we did have and how lucky we were to have it...

We had an amazing grandmother who (much to her chagrin) never got to be called “grandma” (I don’t know why, but Brad and Todd had called her "Patsy" since they were young, so I always just did the same).

We have amazing memories of her at our wedding. Seeing how proud she was of Brad, seeing how happy she was to have her family together and proudly telling everyone that she was the “matriarch” of the family. And, of course, the memory of her hitting the dance floor with Brad and some of the groomsmen.

Brad has lifetime of memories of holidays filled with Patsy’s laughter and love and cooking. I have memories of being welcomed in to a new family with open arms and Patsy cooking me vegetable feasts even though, as a true Texan, she probably couldn’t believe her grandson had married a vegetarian!

We have memories of playing cards and her calling Brad “satchel-ass” when he dared to beat her in a hand. I still have no idea what a satchel-ass is, but I call Brad it every once in a while just for fun.

Mostly, we remember her unconditional love. Her feistiness and adventurous spirit. Her giving nature and ability to make everyone feel comfortable around her. Her fierce love and protection of her family and her friends.

We’ll all truly miss her but I’m comforted by a story that her pastor told. He said that after she had fallen one day and injured herself, he told her that she needed to slow down a bit. I can totally picture her retort when apparently she said, “no, I’m not going to slow down … if I have to slow down, I’d rather go home to Tom Frank.”

Slowing down just wasn't her style - she wanted to live life to the fullest and enjoy every bit of it. And so she did. She never had to slow down or suffer. She left us on her terms and with love and memories to last throughout our lifetimes.

While we were in Texas, I kept picturing that Big Daddy had been waiting (probably not very patiently!) for the past few years in heaven. Waiting for her to come and cook him one of her fabulous breakfasts or for them to take a spin around the dance floor. I know she's happy to be back by his side and she is smiling down on us everyday. We'll miss you Patsy.

Philadelphia Engagement Party

Next we were off to Philly to meet up with Brad’s family for the weekend. Brad’s little bro Todd had proposed to his girlfriend, Alex, this past Spring.

Since they won’t be getting married until 2012, Alex’s parents decided to throw an engagement party to start the celebrating. So, we headed up to Philly to join in on the fun.

On Friday night, we had dinner with Le Anne and Tommy, Todd and Alex, and Alex’s parents’ Sharon and Tom, which was nice just to meet her parents and have a low-key dinner (but seriously, can there be any more Toms/Thomases/Tommys in this family!?). And then the big celebration with Todd and Alex's family and friends on Saturday which was really fun. It was great to get to celebrate Todd and Alex’s engagement and we can’t wait for more parties to come until the big celebration in July 2012!