Even the small harvest is worth the work

The garden is starting to produce. It's a good damn thing too, 'cause if I was out there weeding in 90 percent humidity for nothing I would go freakin' nuts.

I did a lot of weeding this morning. I took my hoe and gave a quick tune-up with a mill file so it would be nice and sharp. I keep the file in my back pocket when I weed so I can sharpen it often.

Anybody who uses many tools knows that keeping things sharp can save you a ton of work. With garden tools, a sharp pick, shovel, machete and hoe save your back from undue wear-and-tear, as well as doing a better job hacking things to pieces.

I am not obsessed with weeds. I want the garden to produce; I don't care if everything is perfect. Some garden blogs and websites show vegetable plants in these super-clean beds covered with mulch and not a weed in sight. I'm here to tell ya, it don't have to be so. Maybe that is how you get prize-winning tomatoes, but all I want is my kids to eat fresh healthy food.

We picked a few more radishes, a colander full of mustard greens, and a pot full of green beans this morning after I hacked my way through the weeds. The male blooms are falling off the squashes and the female blooms are starting, so all is well. Tiny little cucumbers are forming behind the flowers on the cucumber plant and the tomatoes smell amazing. I always forget what decent tomatoes from the garden smell like. Bought in the store, they barely have any scent at all.