I was bit by the gardening bug. No surprise. It was more surprising that I went as long as I did without visiting a nursery, pulling a weed, or going through heirloom seed catalogs. In our rental Tree House the yard is taken care of, and it grows just fine without me. However, there are three very large and neglected planting beds. They are a tangle of mint and weak, straggly strawberries. So, I dragged four children through Home Depot and came out with tomato varities, herbs, and enough seeds to satisfy every individual garden passion, including; greenbeans, watermelon, pumpkin, zinnias and carrots. Here comes the sad part: As I began turning the soil and pulling up weeds I kept coming across LARGE roots. Mature, thick, roots that oozed a suspicious white sap. Nearest plant that could produce this root volume? Oleander. Bad poison. Pretty oleander is too toxic to mess with, so now I have a lot of orphan seedlings and seeds.

Free, to good garden: Tomatoes, beans and carrots, watermelon, cucumbers and vigorous strawberries. Need water, sun and soil.