Ah, springtime in Bremerton. My favorite time of year. The days are longer, the ground is dryer and the sun is warm upon your face when you turn it up toward the sky. The sounds of lawnmowers and weed eaters are the instruments on which the weekend symphonies are played by many a resident throughout every neighborhood in town. The smell of freshly mowed grass tingles the back of the nose and the flowering trees and shrubs bursting with poufs of color delight the eyes at every turn.

Now I pride myself on keeping a nice tidy and landscaped yard. At the Smidt house, I am the one that does the upkeep portion of the yard work. My husband, Jason, proves to be occasionally useful for big projects and heavy lifting. Otherwise he leaves the rest of it to me. His talents lie elsewhere.

Using the mower and the clippers to chop any number of things into little pieces is very therapeutic after a tough day at the office. I try to imagine that the blades of grass are all of my pressures, problems and frustrations of the day. With a couple of passes with the mower or a few snips of the shears I can step back and say, “Wow, much better, problems solved and frustrations melted away.” If it was a really bad week, well the mower and the clippers just don’t cut it (pun intended) and it’s time to break out the chain saw for some hardcore therapy.

As family we decided to start a new project this year which is a pea patch in an odd portion of our yard that does not get much use. I grew up on a farm in the Puyallup Valley surrounded by raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb fields so I know my way around growing edible things. Even though it has been 20 years, I hear it is just like riding a bike. Fresh food and family fun all at the same time. The three of us have spent the last few nice weekends clearing the area and building the raised beds. Now if we can just get past the family bickering on who wants to grow what, everything will be just fine.

I hope many of you will join with us this year and start a pea patch of your own or tell us about the one you already have. Attached to my column online is the ability to post comments. You simply need to sign up and create a screen name and a password. You can remain anonymous if you wish. Please start making use of this feature at www.pnwlocalnews.com/kitsap/pat/opinion. I would love to hear from all of you. Share your gardening tips and overall thoughts of Bremerton with me.

Happy Spring Everyone.