A few months ago I wrote a post titled Gardener, Optimist. It got some repins on Pinterests and some likes on Facebook and Twitter. I love knowing I’m not the only Gardener, Optimist out there.
This year I got a really late start to my garden. I only had Saturdays available to plant and it rained almost every Saturday in May. During late June and July I felt impatient when I saw Facebook photos of friends’ early harvests. Things started turning around for me in late July and I am now enjoying almost daily harvests. Sadly, my squash hasn’t produced anything (tons of blooms, but apparently the bees didn’t spend any time pollinating them), but I am enjoying bumper crops of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.
All in a day’s harvest.
I have to tell ya, it feels great to go through the grocery store and bypass the cucumbers and tomatoes (“No thanks, I grown my own.”) It also feels great to know my personal haul is organic. Not a drop of pesticide has touched my plants.
I’m actually in a tomato crisis. Hubs doesn’t eat them and while I don’t have enough to supply a food desert, I have more than I need. I thought and thought about who I might share them with. In the end, I decided to give them to my mom, Nanny. She loves home-grown tomatoes. She used to grow them each year but hasn’t done so lately. It seemed like the right thing to do: give them to an 88-year old former gardener versus giving them to folks who are more able-bodied. Besides, I’m in Nanny’s will.
Peppers galore!
From the looks of things, I estimate I’ll have a steady harvest well into Fall. In a week or two I plan to try my hand at a Fall lettuce garden. Fall gardening is a new venture for me, so I’m sure there will be a lot of trial and error involved. But it sure will be fun.
482gr8 