Two years ago, in the first season of the COVID pandemic, with nowhere to go and no one to call for relief taking care of 3 boys (4 and under) while working full-time jobs, Dave and I invested in a way to escape: a vacation home in northern Michigan. This has always been a dream of mine, and I have to say it’s even better than I imagined. In the two years since we purchased, we’ve spent holidays, long weekends, the better part of a few months, getaways, several quarantines, a fair chunk of my maternity leave, and many happy moments “up north” (as Michiganders refer to anywhere else in the state – just so long as it’s not south).

In order to prepare the place for the boys on our first trip, my mom and I went ahead a few days and cleared up, cleaned up, and stocked up everything top-to-bottom. That meant Dave and I had to split cars, with me taking the sedan so he could load up the boys to follow in the SUV a few days later. I had everything organized, boxed, and labeled days in advance until I realized in the last day that I had made an egregious miscalculation:

My precious potted tomato plants – which could not be left without care for the several weeks we were due to be away – could not fit in my sedan. Dave would have to bring them up with the boys in the SUV.

This very long preamble is to set the stage for this picture:

Dave, the boys, and the tomatoes joined me up north ~5 hours after this was taken, including 1 potty break and 1 “I think I’m going to throw up” break as Dave discovered J becomes carsick when his vision is obstructed by giant tomato plants (who knew?).

I took last summer off of planting vegetables given the extended period up north again, and lamented the fact during August when I would have otherwise been enjoying fresh tomatoes and green beans every day.

This summer, however, with our plans for shorter stints up north, and our 4th grade neighbor who is hungry for a cash-paying side hustle, I have again planted vegetables!

This year I have pole beans, 2 types of cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, Buttercrunch lettuce, banana peppers, and some herbs.

I am more than a little excited about my garden, so I figure I might as well make a “before” post since there will inevitably be an “after.”

In fact, my enthusiasm might be a bit misguided. We had a severe storm blow through this morning and I waited nervously by the window to see if my green bean trellises would topple. Just as I began proudly reporting about their resilience to Dave, he suggested I do a full lap of the yard before I start celebrating. Oops.