In my dream, my garden is in neat rows. There's always something ready to harvest in my organic dream garden and my kids can have their pick of fresh from the Earth produce any time they want. I have dirt under my nails as I carry my bucket full of veggies inside where I will can and freeze and store enough food for us to eat all winter.
I want a big garden. Like really big.
In reality, I over planted and now my plants are getting really crowded. Except for the sole okra plant I put in. It has plenty of room and is on target to produce exactly two okras.
My organic garden dreams are leading to tiny weird holes in my peppers and squash bugs all over my yellow squash plant.
Ah, I was not aware that gross bugs would be eating my food before me.
And yesterday, when I went to check on the billion cucumbers that need to be picked everyday, an entire pepper plant wasn't there. Like, it was just gone.
Who took my pepper plant?!?!
I spent a good chunk of time hunched over the squash plant, scooping the ugly pests into a jar of soapy water and burning the eggs. Not exactly my original Sunday night plan.
Deep down I know there's a lesson in hard work here.
I'm trying to remember that it takes years to really figure out how to grow food the right way. I'm letting Google be my teacher. If anyone has any expert tips, I'm all ears.
I'm also all cucumbers.
It's like a sick joke that the one vegetable that we can't store is the one going wild. A girl can only eat so many pickles. And Josie just told me that my homemade pickles are gross and to, "please just get the kind with the bird on the jar."
She's not helping my pride.
5 comments:
HA!!!! Love the pickle remark from Josie! That is priceless! My mom is the master gardener....like a gardener with a garden that is a mile wide. There are tricks to the trade...like okra...you need to plant lots....but cucumber and squash, not so much. You also have to thin your crop, meaning you plant lots and then you pull out a few to allow the healthy ones room to grow. She also is a master canner/pickle maker/vegetable freezer. If you have questions, I would be glad to ask her! Happy Gardening :) Amy King
aw, gardening is hard work! i can't even keep my tiny basil plant alive on my porch (thank goodness for husbands who know that plants need water to live). :)
Hey Nicole,
Don't feel too bad! I tried planting a flower garden this Spring & completely failed when I realized I planted ALL the flowers on the side that doesn't recieve any sunlight! haha, but I think part of the fun is to learn & conquer! So, keep trying & maybe soon you will be eating from the organic garden of your dreams!!!
Andrea is very knowledgeable about vegetable gardening, so you should talk to her if you have questions about pests and such. She has tons of resources from her work with the Master Gardening program.
We always set out with good intentions, but eventually the garden over runs us! We've got those nasty little bugs too. I suppose you have to spray to keep them away, but then it wouldn't be organic. Boo. Keep trying, i'll let you know if I learn anything about those pesky bugs.
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