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Thanks grow easily in the garden

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By MONICA BRANDIES

Tribune correspondent

Published: November 25, 2009

I thank God that he led me to study horticulture. I was a senior in high school and planning to be a school teacher when I got a flier in the mail about the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women. My folks took me to see one school where I could study education (God made it rain that day and the place looked depressing) and then to see the School of Horticulture where the sun was shining and it looked like paradise.

Turned out I had too many children to take time to be a school teacher. But I could grow most of the food we ate and write about gardens from home. We had 2.3 acres in Ohio and then 4.5 in Iowa and community gardens when we moved to town.

I thought my "career" was over when my husband's job moved us all to Florida and I had to learn gardening again almost from scratch, but actually it was a new beginning.

So I'll be thanking God for all of that on turkey day, also for all the people who have helped me; those at the Hillsborough County Extension Office, members of the Rare Fruit group and people who have let me write about their gardens and share their knowledge. I also thank God for my children, who helped me with the recent Open Garden we had at our home. This year I am especially thankful for Eric Young who helped me get ready and shared his amazing gardening enthusiasm and knowledge with all the visitors. Times may be hard, but God is always good, as a garden will remind you every day.

Today's pick

I thought I didn't like white Mandevilla as much as the pink ones until I saw them blooming all around the trellis at the Discovery Garden at the Extension Office in Seffner. Mandevillas need full sun and bloom mostly in the warmer months.

Now's the time to ...

Admit we have had several frogs the size of a child's fist that somehow got in the house. I find one way to catch them, if they are on the floor, is to throw a tea towel over them, scoop them up and put them outside.

Monica Brandies can be reached at monicabrandies@yahoo.com.

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