Here’s to hoping our thumbs stay green
Who here grows (or has ever grown) a vegetable garden?
It’s incredibly rewarding when it works and the biggest disappointment when it doesn’t.
We had rain showers all day yesterday and when I walked out of the house this morning, my tomato plants were almost three inches taller! Or maybe I’m exaggerating. Us garden geeks, we do that sometimes.
Last February, Mothership and I stuck tomato plants in pots by my front door. The resulting tomatoes were so succulent I couldn’t wait to harvest an entire crop.
So last summer, Joe and I dug a vegetable patch in our front yard. We bought seven tomato plants, four pepper plants and one cucumber plant. We laid spinach seeds, carrots and broccoli. We planted basil, oregano and rosemary. We were convinced our garden would yield so many vegetables that neighbors would grow fat off our land.
The attempt was a total bust. We planted at the end of June, when the UV rays in Florida are so hot and deadly you apply sunscreen before getting the mail and the thunderstorms are so brutal you dare not leave the house without an industrial strength umbrella. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
By July, most of our plants had turned yellow from too much water; their foliage charred from too much sun. The only plant with potential was one unruly cucumber and by mid-July even that was on its way out thanks to a gluttonous aphid.
This year is going to be different.
This year Joe dug the garden even bigger. We purchased additional stones, fencing, a soaker hose and eight bags of organic soil, which I know sounds prissy and redundant. We planted eight tomato plants, eight peppers, six zucchini, two cucumbers, and rows of snap peas, carrots and spinach in addition to the usual herbs. We did it the first week in March thinking we were total pros.
And then every champion gardener I met informed me that we were too late. Again.
Ah well. Wish us luck. I’m much more jaded about it than Joe. He thinks we’re growing enough tomatoes to make a sauce. I hope he’s right because at this point our reputation is on the line. Neighbors are beginning to wander into our yard to admire our bountiful jungle, which is visible from the road and will be a public embarrassment should it flop. Again.
Seriously people. If I can’t pass out fat zucchinis at the end of May, I’m gonna be bitter.
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PS. Fun fact: Joe doesn’t eat vegetables.
PPS. I have a hanging strawberry plant on the front porch. It gives me at least two red berries a day and shows no signs of slowing down. If the garden should take a turn for the worse, this is my consolation prize.
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Impressive garden this year! It’s off to a great start. Both your veggie plants & flowers look very lush and healthy. I am envious.
April 19th, 2010 at 4:35 pmI’m just impressed that you’re trying since I won’t even do that much. My husband, on the other hand, would totally do the whole garden thing if he had time of course, which he doesn’t. So I’ll just admire yours. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!
April 19th, 2010 at 5:28 pmoh! This totally makes me want to garden. And run a triatholon.
April 19th, 2010 at 5:44 pmRicci: I’ve been knocking out a few New Years Resolutions, if ya know what I mean.
April 19th, 2010 at 6:00 pmGarden looks great…The Miracle Grow really helped!
April 19th, 2010 at 6:02 pmLance Request:
Can you devote an entire post to the eating habits in your house please? With your lack of meat and Joe’s lack of veggies, I need to learn about the meals in your house
April 19th, 2010 at 6:27 pmMisha is constructing 65 feet of cool diagonal lattice along our back fence so we can grow grapes! In Florida!
April 19th, 2010 at 7:31 pmSara: Funny you should comment. You have no idea how sticky a subject this is. I actually have a Lance post brewing about it. You hit the nail on the friggen head here. Joe and I were recently at dinner with the food critic from his paper and I launched into a full-blown bitch session about our daily dinner struggles. I grilled (no pun intended) the poor critic until he made quality meal suggestions.
April 19th, 2010 at 9:21 pmSuperb garden sister! The greenhouse will seriously trump it, I hate to admit. Lol! We we get in to the house the competition is on!
April 19th, 2010 at 9:44 pmmeant to say *when* we get into the house (fingers type faster than the brain thinks dammit)
April 19th, 2010 at 9:45 pmLondon: You guys are attempting grapes?!! Keep me posted. That’s awesome. I would love to grow grapes. It would very much remind me of home. Do you and Misha have a veggie garden? If so, when did you plant? I’m like nuts about plants now. I never thought I’d see the day. I’m my Oma.
April 19th, 2010 at 11:14 pmWe have a vegetable garden! It’s over 100 sq meters and 100 miles from our house, so if something happens to grow there, it’ll be a miracle.
April 20th, 2010 at 2:14 amI planted a vegetable garden for the first time about 6 weeks ago. It’s not looking so good. But you have given me hope that if it doesn’t work this year I can always try again!
April 22nd, 2010 at 12:23 pmYour garden looks great! And guess what… I’ve already killed my cilantro. But I’ll update pics of mine if you do the same?
April 28th, 2010 at 10:39 pm