Planting home vegetable gardens
Is experiencing a resurgence in popularity.
I think it’s great.
Especially if home gardeners
Share their abundance with a local food pantry.
But for some reason
I haven’t been able to convert even a section
Of my perennial border
Solely to vegetables.
I convince myself this is OK
Since my abundance of flowers
Supply the nectar
For hundreds of bees.
I’m thinking they are pollinating
Vegetable plants all around town.
I also consider flowers
“Food for the soul.”
But the truth is I’m not that great at growing veggies.
This season alone
I’ve gotten a total of 5 tomatoes from 3 plants
One of which has now been eaten
By a tomato hornworm
May he rest in peace.
And something ate my three brussel sprouts plants
I am good at leafy greens.
Leaf lettuce and arugula are my favorites.
I can also grow radishes galore.
So I’m doing my bit for the local food movement
Planting the edges of my garden.
And a pot here and there.
I have a hard time remembering
When it’s time to plant things.
So last winter I took the local Extension Service calendar
And input it into my personal google calendar.
Which means when it’s time to plant something.
It pops up on my calendar.
Now I remember it’s OK to plant my fall garden
In August.
Last weekend I cleaned out the spaces
Where there were weeds
And sprinkled seeds for
Carrots, radishes, arugula and lettuce.
They I planted peas around the dahlia cages.
It’s not the vegetable garden of my parents
With neat rows and room for towering corn plants.
But it works for me.
Fitting in things along the edges.
Finding the time and place to grow the things
I really want.
And not trying to force myself
To fit it into a standard mold.
Life changes with time
Finding the time and place
For those changes
Can be challenging.
When we figure out how to do it.
It’s wonderful.
Gail
In My Garden 