Should I garden?

I've been wondering, with all the prices on everything going up, should my family start a garden? We could make it a Mexican-style garden, and grow things like tomatoes, jalapeños, refried beans, corn chips, etc. Those are all garden-growable things, right? I've never seen a corn-chip plant, but certainly that's from where corn chips are harvested.

I think, based on level and frequency of consumption, Mexican food must be my family's favorite type of food. We have just about spent our tax rebate on delicious Casa Blanca entrees. (Weird: a French-based word, "entree," used to describe a Mexican dish. Maybe I should use the term "entrada" - thanks to Alta Vista Babel Fish for the translation!) Actually, my favorite type of food is probably Asian, but often, at least in America, this is more expensive, and we're usually looking for a cheaper more inexpensive meal.

So, to garden, or not to garden? That is the question that haunts me. (For a few moments, anyway.) Actually, I'd probably spend a lot of time (and some money) on it and kill some very nice plants in the process. But it's a thought... one that haunts me (wait, I already mentioned that). Perhaps I should instead look for others' gardens, make friends with them, and if they won't be my friend or won't share, help them learn how to share (by taking some produce at opportune moments, such as 2 am). Kidding! I'd never do such a thing, so don't worry, that reader of mine who's already starting a garden. It's not me who's stealing your squash...

Actually, we briefly discussed the relative ease of raising puppies instead of gardening... they pretty much take care of themselves (well, momma-dog does for a while at first, of course). And they're definitely a renewable resource. Now, my daughter said she wouldn't eat such meat, and I said she might have already without knowing it, and she revised her statement to "I wouldn't knowingly eat it!" So there's the solution already: don't tell her the source of the meat. "Mom, this is really good, but I can't tell - is it beef or pork or chicken?" "If you don't ask, I won't tell."

In case you haven't heard, we have puppies (anybody want a puppy?). Six of them, courtesy of the stray my wife rescued from being harassed by kids in a nearby neighborhood (personally, I think the dog could have taken care of itself, but I'm not as nice as my lovely wife). Today someone recommended that we put them in the paper, "That's a good way to get rid of them quickly." Well, I don't know... seems like they would have to be put in the Sunday paper, because the regular papers aren't big enough, but they might suffocate in that plastic bag they put on the Sunday papers. And how do you figure out which 6 houses are deserving of having a puppy put in their Sunday paper? And how do you fit the little critters in there in the first place? Seems like a bit of hassle to me, but I guess she did it and it worked for her, so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Ah well, back to my aching. I mean, my back is aching. I cut down a tree today (with an axe), and then tried to move the thing. Drug it partway across the yard before hurting my back the first time, then wised up a bit and cut it in half. Picked up the big end, balanced it on my shoulder & worked my way up under it, then lifted it on my arms and carried it to the "big pile" by the street and threw it over the fence into the pile (that carry was where I hurt my back the second time). But I sure felt like a macho man while carrying that log! (Unfortunately, the next few days I'll feel like a mucho-mature [old] man as my back says, "That was a really, really stupid thing to do, you numskull!") Later, have to go get some Tylenol...