Our little garden plot is FINALLY a success! After three years of planting seeds and starter plants only to watch them shrivel up and die, we are at long last eating veggies we have grown ourselves! Woo-and-Hoo, baby!
So what did we do different this year as compared to other years? Well, for starters, I have it through my thick head at long last that my own level of thirst is in no way related to the need of the plants for water. Just because I am lounging on my stoop enjoying the cooling of the sun and listening to the twittering of the birds in all comfort and ease, I should not project this feeling of calm and peace onto the plants who may very well be gasping for water. So, tips #1 and #2 and #3 for all you aspirant farmers out there: Water, water and then water some more.
The other thing we did different this year was add our own compost to the soil mix. We started the garden box three years ago with a bag of compost, a bag of (something else I cannot remember now) and many purchased bags of soil/dirt/potting mixture. We needed to haul in all the dirt-type stuff because our entire 50'x150' city plot is nothing but backfill from the foundation hole. My little joke yesterday about mowing the lawn in my barefeet? Ain't gonna happen, folks—at least not until the high priest teaches me how to walk across burning coals with no shoes on. Now that I think about it, it is probably a good thing I use a non-electric sheep to mow the lawn. If I was running something with an engine, I might very well be flinging projectiles from my lawn through the neighbors' windows. A lush carpet my yard is not. Where was I? Oh yes! Our compost.
Our compost is a lush rich mix of all the veggies from years past that were lovingly selected, purchased, transported to our home only to be abandoned in the veggie drawer to rot. In addition to these former plants, the major ingredient in our compost comes from our morning mugs: coffee grounds and tea leaves. A little mental math tells us that it is too early in the morning for me to try to compute anything so let's go with the round figure of tons of coffee and tea sitting in the compost bin. We have some happy, happy worms in that bin. They only have to crawl over to the next deposit of kitchen refugees and they get a jolt of chemical glee that keeps 'em gnawing and digesting and excreting with a sparkle in their eye ... eyes? ... do worms have optical organs?
Anyway, I believe that the main reason our veggie patch is doing so well this year is because the plants are caffeinated from the compost!! The broccoli is HUGE—and it hums! The spring peas are multitudinous—and I swear the buds wink at me when I walk by. That unknown root plant is monstrous—I'm afraid to pick it. Could it have limbs? The lettuce plant is trying to keep up with the broccoli but I fear the broccoli have formed a gang and beat up on the lettuce when my back is turned. Actually, we were so caught off guard by successful plants that we crammed things in a little too tightly when planting. Honestly, I didn't know broccoli could get that big so I think we planted more in the box than we should have. Thus, I now have guilt over setting up the lettuce to be the runt of the garden. sigh
I'm off to water the veggie patch and admire the results thus far and keep my fingers and toes out of the reach of the broccoli gang.
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