Mulch ado about nothing

years,“ Jane said. One vote for her.
    “That isn’t what our teacher said,“ Katie countered. One vote against.
    “Ask your teacher if she’s ever eaten in France,“ Shelley suggested.
    “I don’t mean to discourage you girls, but birds really need to be well done. Put them back in the oven for a little bit if Katie feels so strongly,“ Jane advised.
    “But the broccoli will be cold and soggy if we wait.“
    “I love cold soggy broccoli!“ Shelley said. “Me, too,“ Jane added.
    The girls did as they were told and the dinner turned out well enough even if the chicken got a bit too well done. They had to gnaw it rather than simply eating it. But the taste was good. And they could honestly praise the girls for this without alluding to the texture.
    Jane sat back from the table, making her crutches, propped behind her chair, crash to the floor. “Sorry,“ she said, gathering them up. “Now it’s time to clean up.“
    “We’ll put everything in the dishwasher,“ Katie said. “Then we’re going to a movie.”
    Jane shook her head. “Not until the dishes are done and put away. That’s part of cooking.”
    Shelley took her aside and whispered, “If we want them to learn to cook, we need to give them a little leeway on the icky parts of the process. At least at first.”
    Jane laughed. “Who was making them wash and reuse the bowls? Not me.“
    “But... “ Shelley stopped herself and grinned. Then said to the girls, “You could hand-wash and dry them faster and still get to the movie in time.”
    Jane had to get outside where she couldn’t hear them bashing her plates around in the sink. Shelley brought them both cups of coffee and sat down opposite Jane at the patio table. “Have they broken anything yet?“ Jane asked.
    “Only a salt shaker,“ Shelley replied.
    “Why were they washing a salt shaker?“
    “They weren’t. It just got in the way.”
    Jane sighed. “This seemed such a good idea. Now I’m wondering if we’re all going to get ptomaine poisoning.“
    “Maybe they’ll move on to desserts tomorrow,“ Shelley suggested. “Desserts can’t poison anyone. “
    “The cream can go bad.“
    “Why are you being so bleak?“
    “It’s my kitchen. You’d be bleak if they were trashing yours. Did you ask them to wash up whatever sticky stuff they got on the floor?“
    “I put a mop out for them,“ Shelley said a little more cheerfully than normal for her. “It’s so nice out here with all these plants. Jane, we really ought to learn to garden for ourselves. Picture a sweep of obedient plants in white and pink against your fence. That would be so pretty,“ she added, trying to cheer Jane up.
    “What are obedient plants?“
    “Nice little bushy things with spires of flowers. One of the few things that blooms well in the fall. My mother has grown them for years. I’m sure she’d be glad to dig some up for you. They spread so well she has to give baskets of them away every fall or they’d take over her whole yard.“
    “That doesn’t sound very ‘obedient’ to me.“
    “The obedient part of the name is supposed to be that you can make them bend every which way you want. They look good with cosmos, which start blooming sooner, but last to frost.“
    “Whose gardens are we seeing tomorrow?“ Jane changed the subject. Right now the idea of digging up part of the yard to put in a real garden was too daunting to consider. Though maybe later, when she wasn’t stuck in the cast, it would sound better.
    “Arnold Waring’s and Stefan Eckert’s. Although Stefan doesn’t even claim to have a garden. He just wants one. We should have told him that you can rent one. Maybe we should team up with him and collect ideas from plant catalogs.“
    “Poor old Arnold, trying to keep up his wife’s garden. What a chore it must be for him.“
    “I think he might like it,“ Shelley said. “It’s probably a way he keeps his wife’s memory alive and growing.“
    “Somebody told me once that gardens should die with the gardener,“ Jane said. “I guess I don’t like that view any more than Arnold does. It’s sort of like tearing a house down just because the person who built and lived in it is gone.“
    “You’re having such grim thoughts this evening. What’s really wrong?“ Shelley asked.
    Jane shrugged. “I’m meeching. I’m just sick of everything I do being so much more difficult. I’ve lost my freedom to drive myself. I can’t take a shower without trussing up