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Ho, Ho, Ho,
Green Giant!
I've got a thing for gardening. When we lived in Florida, I grew what I could
-- mostly in winter, because it's too hot there to grow much of anything while
the rest of the world is gardening. Now that we live in Maryland, it makes sense
to plant in the spring. So I did. On March 31 I planted a bunch of seeds and a
few small tomato plants from the local garden store, and look what I've got now!
It seems to me that anything will grow here, with or without my help.
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I chose the west side of the house for the garden bed
because it gets the most sun. In front and on the right are beans that are
still pretty young. On the left, next to the wooden stakes, are peas. The
tall plants in back are tomatoes. The one to the right of the chimney is
now taller than I am. Right in front of the chimney are zucchini and
yellow squash. Also in among everything are five or six lettuce plants and
two radicchio plants. (And let me tell you, as much as I like radicchio,
I've decided that no one family needs two radicchio plants.)
I don't use any pesticides on the garden, though I
hesitate to call it "organic" because I don't use organic seeds.
So far I haven't needed anything to chase away any critters, large or
small. My general approach to compensating for bugs is to plant enough for
everyone, so no one goes home disappointed. |
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Linda took this picture today to celebrate the first yellow
squash. I've never grown zucchini or squash before, and the success of
these plants this year has been very gratifying. Everyone warned me not to
plant too much because I'd be overrun with them mid-summer. So far we've
only eaten the one you see here -- but I think I may have been too free
with the seeds anyway. Today I counted at least fifteen squash, and quite
a few flowers on the zucchini, too. |
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The peas have just begun to bear pods. At the top of this
picture, you can see the white flowers from which the pods form. Although
they aren't quite ready, today I broke a pod open and ate the four tiny
little peas inside. It was like having a bowlful of pea flavor compressed
into the size of ... well, something much smaller than a pea.
And no, I still don't like them cooked. |
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