The garden's mom

Some people are natural-born mothers. Me, not so much, but my neighbor and co-gardener definitely is a mom.

She, along with her husband, have raised a couple great kids. She mothers me, her co-workers, her boss, pretty much everyone she comes into contact with. She adopted two of the kittens we found, and is mothering them to the point of teaching them to swim backstroke while giving them their first bath.

She even mothers the garden. We have a somewhat shady, largely abandoned corner where a solid stand of garlic has established itself from the bulblets that form on the top of the stalks (that are supposed to be cut off, according to experts, but we never seem to get around to it). The plants are so thick it looks like a putting green.

Today, we were working in the garden (because a mom's work is never done), when we noticed some weeds were flanking the volunteer garlic patch. The garden's mom went after those weeds with a hoe and a vengeance. The garlic patch is safe now, all tucked in with a bit of landscaping fabric between them and the closest weeds.

Happy Mother's Day!