This time of the year is my favorite time of the year, bar none, because of the theme of renewal. Keeping with that theme, I started my garden late last week by planting baby lettuce in bags of top soil.

I chose this method because I’m living in a rental property for the time being so I don’t want to invest a great deal of time and energy (back labor) into digging compost into the not-so-lovely soil that exists. Using bags of top soil will suffice for the season and at the end of the season, I’ll remove the bags, spread out the soil and leave a parting gift of much improved soil for the next tenant.

Thus, this week I have two tidbits of joy – my lettuce and knowing I’m paying it forward.