How Does Your Garden Grow?




by Patricia Bradley

HOW DOES MY GARDEN GROW?

Once upon a time, I had a garden that had sixteen rows that were a hundred feet long. (See photo and no, that’s not me—it was my mother-in-law). We had four rows of green beans and tried our best to give them away. Except for a few people, most wanted me to pick them, and one person even wanted me to cook them and bring the dish to him. Uh, no.

I’ve never thought about having a garden since. Until this year, and I still don’t have a garden…but there were these two tomato plants that just popped up out of nowhere next to my house. I have no idea where they came from or how they got there. But I now have two very healthy plants bearing my favorite tomatoes—what I call Tommy Toes or grape tomatoes.


Writing this post made me remember the fun we had growing a garden that year. We had strawberry plants, and those were the best strawberries I’ve ever eaten! And squash…Oh.My.Goodness. We had so many squash vines—that’s the year I learned how to pickle squash. And the cucumbers outdid themselves, but I learned not to wait until evening to pick them after they’d been sitting in the hot sun all day. They’ll be bitter if you do.

…Maybe I should start a garden. Evidently, I have a greener thumb than I thought. Usually if someone wants to kill a plant, they give it to me. But maybe I could grow green beans again. Not in one-hundred-foot rows, though.

Maybe I’ll get a few cabbage slips and put them out. Nah. Last time I did that, we ended up with a $35 head of cabbage. What? You’ve never eaten a $35 cabbage? That’s what mine cost that year after we set out $35 worth of cabbage slips. Rabbits ate all but one. I guarded that sucker until it got big enough to eat and then I cooked it!

Do you have a garden? If you do, what grows in it? If you don’t, I’m afraid this post might make you never want one.

From Patricia Johns
I don't have a real garden. I have a balcony with a few pots on it, but I'm inordinately proud of my little pots! I have cherry tomatoes, peas, geraniums, and strawberries. That's the vast extent of my gardening out there. But with this pandemic, it's so heartening to see something grow.

Every year that I've tried to grow something other than petunias, it's failed. But this year, everything has been growing beautifully! It's almost like my little balcony is making up for the other stresses, and I'm truly grateful for it.

In this picture, the day is rainy, which has been most of our summer so far! So if anyone wants to trade us some sun, I'd take it. 😉

I hope you are all finding your own little pockets of calm, too.

Comments

  1. I have a black thumb. Even this summer, when I thought things would grow well because...like you said, Patricia, the pandemic...but even my petunias and zinnias look ragged this year. However, even I can't stop the trees and the grass and the farm crops, so all is beautiful anyway. Great post!

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    1. Liz, until this year, I've had a black thumb, even managed to almost kill a peace lily I'd had for 23 years. Thank goodness it came out from the root!

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    2. My geraniums are a little ragged, I have to admit. But I love them anyway. ;)

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  2. I'm embarrassed to say I'm not a gardener...consider me a picker ( and cook) of things that grow in gardens planted and tended by my husband. We always have a garden here at our island cottage but this year it was planted late (due to Covid) and is very lacklustre even now...much like the times. Would love to know how to pickle squash though and as you both suggest, small things can produce big results...of pleasure.

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    1. I don't think I could make a salad out of what I'm growing on my balcony, but it's fun anyway. Thankfully, I'm not forced to feed my family the old fashioned way. :)

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  3. I'm such a big fan of Farmer's Markets and the Botanical Gardens here in town because I don't have garden space in my condo complex and would think of dozens of things to do other than garden, even if space appeared. I so admire people who have the patience and inclination to garden. Thanks for the fun posts!

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    1. Thanks, Virginia. It was fun to stroll down Memory Lane.

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    2. I admire people with "real" gardens, too. It's beyond my abilities at the moment.

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  4. I'm with Virginia! After several failed attempts at keeping up a vegetable garden I came to the realization that I dislike the discipline of gardening. I have tried (several times) to like it but now I'm happy to reap the rewards of my parents' garden. I used to sell at a farmer's market years ago but I usually ended up spending all my profits on the variety of wonderful things other people grew or made.

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    1. LOL! That's so cute that you tried so hard to like it. My best results are pots I purchase, planted by others and watered by me. I can grow some plants from seedlings (like the peas) but there is something about the pots others start....

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  5. To go along with the others who've commented, I'm afraid I'm not good at growing plants either. One year at our old house that had a sunny backyard, my husband and my-then preschool daughter both planted zucchini, and my daughter's zucchini took off and they were the biggest ones that came out of that garden. I don't have the patience for gardening, but I love looking at other's gardens, and I love farmer's markets.

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  6. I am a gardener and I love it, I actually love to sit in my garden while I write the next chapter of my book or do some quilting. I get my best ideas while sitting in my garden.

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  7. I'm not a gardener. I used to go to a farm where you could pick your own... I did that for several years and canned my own vegetables, make jelly, jams and preserves with fruits. I loved doing it, but growing my own -- no! We have victory gardens in my neighborhood. I see people there working their plots, but I go to a farmer's market or the grocery store.

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  8. We don't have a garden as we would just be feeding the deer that roam our neighborhood. They even ate a fully blooming knock out rose bush one year, thorns and all. Growing up we had a huge garden. My dad thought weeding it and picking vegetables would keep us out of trouble!

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  9. Those tomato plants must have been planted by your guardian angel, Patricia B. And Patricia J, I think there might be some small miracles going on in your container garden, too. We had no garden this year, but I do have a healthy crop of peppermint.

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  10. I love gardening, though I haven't done as much this year as I usually do. On veggies I mostly do container gardening, with flowers in the yard generally. And, of course, lots of catnip. I'm a favorite with the neighborhood felines.

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  11. I have a garden with a few tomato plants, a squash, green beans, a cucumber, I love it! But I don't plant rows and rows of it, that would be so overwhelming! Love reading your post!

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