What's all this? Did I recently join Bountiful Baskets, you ask? I didn't need to...we just picked all this from our garden last night, and it's only the beginning!
We've not had the best luck with our garden since we moved here because, truthfully, we didn't spend all that much time tending to it. In fact, with school and everything else going on we didn't even attempt a garden last summer, and I was convinced we wouldn't have one this year either for a few reasons. First, the spring was so cold and wet that I didn't think we'd have a long enough growing season. Second, I had to do rotations this summer for school, meaning I worked 40 hours a week at whichever sites the school placed me (while still having to work every week at my regular job), and I didn't think I'd have the time for a garden. By the way, not only was I working for free but I HAD TO PAY tuition in order to do it. Isn't that cruel? I ended up loving it, though, and I learned a ton.
Back to the garden... I am queen of impulse projects, with no thought to planning, and it drives Evan crazy. I came across some seedlings for really cheap and immediately convinced myself that we could not live without a garden this year. So I bought a bunch of plants and came home, expecting a few hours' work to get the garden prepped and the plants in the ground. Evan laughed...and laughed...and laughed...and after few weeks, countless man-hours (mostly by Evan, bless his heart) and a rockin' irrigation system (of course, also by Evan) we had ourselves a beautiful garden!
***This is where I publicly thank my incredible husband because had this garden been left entirely to me, it would have failed within a few days. (Who am I kidding? It would have failed if even 20% had been left to me. He's really done it all this summer.) THANK YOU EVAN!!! You amaze me with all you do.
I'm skeptical about our tomatoes making it, though. We've had a lot of blossoms but not a lot of developing fruit. Any gardeners out there know why that is? (Evan suggested maybe they're not getting pollinated, which led me to dream last night that we enlisted the help of a bee the size of a rabbit to get the job done. Seriously.) I've got 9 or 10 tomato plants of differing varieties, but none of them are doing very well. Anyway, the beans, peppers, cucumbers and zucchini are doing great, and we've got several squashes, cantaloupes, and watermelons growing bigger each day! I can't wait!!!
In case you're wondering, there are two kinds of peppers in the picture-a regular green pepper, and what I thought would be a golden yellow but has turned out to be more of a chartreuse. I know peppers develop their color the longer they're on the plant, but these guys haven't changed color for about two weeks so we decided to cut them off last night. Now the question is, what dish can I make that will incorporate zucchini, green beans, cucumbers and bell peppers? Any suggestions? Maybe just a good pasta salad?
2 comments:
oh bless your heart for being the best commenter in the west. what is the deal with the blogging world? is it already a thing of the past. i feel like there are just a few people that even do it anymore. i can't believe you guys have that awesome bowl of GREEN veggies. they look awesome. that is really something to be proud of. I can't believe you guys have had time to do that. You sound SO busy. And gardens are HARD. (at least for me) Did you know I'm going to New York to see Sarah? And I will be right by Danny Larsen's house. I should go see one of his musicals or something. Well, you sure made up for not calling me on my birthday with all those comments. and I could sense you were thinking about me all day. I really could. btw - I'm glad you miss your "ledge" in our living room. It's yours you know. I'll never think of it the same again.
I have sure enjoyed your veggies! You should find a way to supply them year round.
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