This is the time of year I like the most.

Each year I go out to the lot behind the house to get my garden area fertilized and prepared for the plants that I will grow for the year.

Onions are an important part of my garden, and I usually put out at least 1,500 plants. Not all will survive, but most do. You have to give onion plants a lot of sunshine – at least 15 hours a day if possible. And you have to keep them weeded because weeds take up space and block the sunshine from the onion plant. I eat a lot of onions, and I freeze a lot to eat later in the non-growing season.

I also like peppers, but not too much of the really hot kind. Bell peppers are a good source of nutrients needed by the body. And they go in salads, or they can be eaten without cooking them. I like peppers in my fried taters, macaroni salad, chili and potato salad. I also freeze many peppers.

And in the winter, I take them out of the freezer, and, boy, are my meals good using them with the onions in just about any way I want them.

Tomatoes take up most of my garden. I plant Romas, and just about any kind that might grow big in size. During the growing season, I pull the suckers off part of the plants so that they will grow tall before spreading out. It also makes the tomatoes big in size.

I planted radishes, carrots and cucumbers along with some melon plants. This year I decided to straw the whole garden area except for the onions, radishes and carrots. Straw helps keep the moisture near the plants, and it also cuts down on the cultivation of the weeds.

Each year you move your plants around so that they can get the nutrients from the soil. Planting the same things in the same place each year causes the plants not to grow too well. So each spring I get my notes out and I decide where I am going to plant which crops. Also, having a map of the garden after planting is done gives you a chance to see how certain plants will grow in your garden.

Many people ask me why I put out a big garden each year, and each year I think I am going to cut the size down some. But spring gives me the desire to once again go out and do what I can to grow food to eat, to freeze and to give away.

Also, as many of my close friends know, being in the garden several hours a day gives me a chance to meditate and be next to God. Many times I find myself talking to him.

At times I can feel the wind blow a little faster, or I can hear the loud chirping of the birds, and I feel the presence of him right there with me. I do a lot of talking out there, and I feel good knowing he hears me.

During the growing season, I might be out there and see a plant that looks like it will die. I sort of talk to it, just as I do to the ones that are growing great. I really believe in talking to my plants. So if you walk up to me in the garden and I don’t turn around, it is because something better has my attention.

Seeing me in my garden, you many times will see me lying there. What I am doing is weeding. I plant on my knees, I weed on my knees and many times I have had to crawl the length of the garden before I can find something to pull myself up with.

My body is so sore most of the time that bending over or reaching for something is a no-no. But life has been granted to me to do as much with as I can, and that I will do. Life is a garden to me blessed by God.

• Ray “Uncle Ray” Day is a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune. Contact him at uncleray@earthlink.net or (765) 457-3819.