Backyard Salad - May 12

My first memory of a garden is the one in my parents backyard in Maitland. My mom started growing tomatoes, mint leaves, lettuce, carrots, and a couple of other vegetables to use in the salad she would make me eat every night. I remember her asking me to go pick a couple of tomatoes, and I remember thinking that we were so self-sufficient, because most of the time we relied on McDonald's for our happy meals. I wish that my mom had more time when we were younger, because with 3 kids in 5 years and two little ones after that she didn't have much
time to keep up with our garden. I remember the progression from having a nice, weed free garden to it getting a little out of control. Finally, everything died. To me this garden represented a sort of life cycle that follows the pattern of my mothers care and available time. I associate this part of my life with my relationship with my mother, so in a way a garden represents a maternal presence.