The Garden

You all recall my garden odyssey, right?  If not, the shorthand version. . .it started with putting tomatoes in the barrels on the side of the house instead of the annuals we usually planted.  The following year we moved to convert the lower terrace from grass to dirt.  We planted strawberries, a couple veggies and berries (that were just left in their pots and jammed in the dirt in hopes of their survival until the next spring.)  This year I was struck with inspiration of container gardening as a way to keep the critters from eating my produce and the dog from trampling it.  After some waiting the containers were placed, filled, seeded and the berries, having survived, moved to their "homes."  

Flash forward to now and it's quite the happy little space.  I love looking out my window down into that area.  Tomatoes are growing (I think, I keep forgetting to look), strawberries are coming in like crazy, carrots have popped up in happy little rows, beats tops are getting bigger, cucumber blooms are off the charts, herbs need to be cut back and dried so they'll continue to sprout, and the berries - well, it's early in the life of the bushes to have much of anything, but the bushes are satisfied little campers.  And there are a couple barrels that I have not a clue what's in there.

 

It's funny how when you grow your own stuff how you either a) wish yours was ready to be picked to use in such-and-such recipe or b) you wish you were growing it.

I'm looking forward to harvesting what's coming up - whether the food ripens before the first frost remains to be seen.  Next year will be fun as we will actually be able to plant at the beginning of the growing season and be able to plant a larger variety.  Me...who hates to garden and pull weeds and, most importantly, sweat...has thoughts of potatoes, rhubarb, lavender, corn, lettuce, zucchini, beans and peas skipping around in my head.

Happy Tuesday,