Growing plants has never come naturally or easily to me. When I was 19 I had rotating houseplants, I would kill them inside and my boyfriend would take them out back and bring them back to life. Then he would swap them out for the ones I had killed inside. Last year's garden was too ambitious and a neglected disaster. Sure work got really busy and played some role in that, but the main problem is that I'm not immediately talented at gardening and I don't like doing things I'm not good at. My normal inclination is to figure out quickly I'm not good at something and move on to find something I am good at. I seriously considered not doing any kind of garden at all this year, but it seems silly to live out here and not do something. Plus my mom bought us a rototiller, and gardening just seems a little easier with one of those.
Last fall when I changed out the bedding in the chicken coop we hauled several cart loads of it down to the garden site and dumped it on the side. My plan was to let it age there over winter and then spread it out. We got our garden in really late because it was so wet. By the time I had it tilled and was ready for the chicken manure what I assumed to be zucchini was sprouting up all over the chicken manure mound. Oh yeah, we threw lots of produce in the chicken coop last year. Yay, I love zucchini! Really, I cannot get enough of it. So I let that pile go and be all full of volunteers.
I went to the evil empire to buy tomato plants. That damn evil empire, so close up the road and full of heirloom tomato varieties plus our favorite little Sun Gold tomatoes. The tomatoes are doing really great, way outgrowing their cages. We've picked quite a few pounds already. You can see though, my garden is not yet winning any prizes for beauty or most efficient weeding.
Hmmm, they don't look that big next to Jack, but that is because they have grown up and over the tops and are trailing on the ground.
Actually I'm feeling pretty good about the tomatoes. If I can learn to grow one or two things well every year I feel satisfied. Okay, I realized I kind of lied when I typed that. I won't feel satisfied, damn it! I want huge, beautiful gardens and I want them right now!!!! Honestly, this keeping with something and trying to get better at it is so not in my nature!
We also planted seeds for swiss chard, broccoli, brussel sprouts and spinach. None of those have done too well. The swiss chard won't grow any bigger, so we're eating it small. We do finally have some little heads of broccoli coming. We planted a sunflower "house" and interplanted peas and beans which have grown way up the sunflowers. This has been fun and I would plant this way again.
Those zucchini turned out to be pumpkin. I completely forgot that we dumped loads of pumpkin guts in the coop after our pumpkin carving party last year. Unfortunately I now have no zucchini. A friend of mine says that if you have to buy zucchini you don't have any friends, so please offer me some if you have it. Jack and Lucy are thrilled with our pumpkin patch though, and it has been fun to watch them get so big and orange.
Bonus pumpkin shot for my sister. She just LOVES when squash looks like this.
