Lessons in Gardening

When I was a kid my parents had a garden and a huge peach tree. I do not remember the vegetables, but I do remember the massive amount of peaches that we had year after year. I never grew tired of peaches. never. Since I moved out of my parents home I have struggled to have homegrown vegetables, but since I was an apartment dweller, a student, and now a townhouse owner I do not have space of my own to plant a garden.

We have tried container gardening....with horrible results. Usually the plants were fried by the time growing season really started or they produced 4 tomatoes. We tried new or different soil, bigger pots, bringing the plants in every evening when the sunshine was too strong, watering after the sun went down, watering in the early early morning; planting under a full moon in the buff was the only thing we did not try. It did not take long to abandon the project and keep buying my fruits and veggies from the store or farmers market.

I was lucky enough to have a family member who had a garden plot they had dug, filled with organic soil, and grew in for a few seasons, then covered it in tarps and let it go. I suspect it became too much. The plot itself is of a good size, it fits approximately 22 plants and 2 trellis for vertical growing. There are also sun shades and a sprinkler system AND irrigation that in the summer months runs twice a month. Last fall, we took it over. This is now our second growing season since we have started using it. Last fall we didn't get anything. The weather was not normal, way too wet and cold from October-December. So this summer I am optimistic that it will be different.  We have 18 tomato plants (gotta have your priorites!), 3 Zucchini, a bunch of green beans, 2 cucmber plants. 1 dill, 4 peppers, and 1 swiss chard.

The Garden Tab *points up* shows our work in pictures. The good, the bad, and the ugly.