Godless in the garden

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Comment by Annie Thomas on June 17, 2012 at 9:56am

Thanks Sentient and Joan!

My cherry tomatoes are almost done, but I've been harvesting about twice a week for over a month.  I have heirloom tomatoes that a friend gave me that are just starting to flower now. I can't wait to see what the heirlooms look like!

Comment by Joan Denoo on June 16, 2012 at 10:49pm

Beautiful tomatoes! Your dinner sounds luscious. 

Comment by Sentient Biped on June 16, 2012 at 7:41pm

Annie - awesome tomatoes!  Mine are just beginning to set, mostly just beginning to bloom.  If there are ripe tomatoes by late July I'm happy!  Not complaning- we've had several big bowls of strawberries, lots of rhubarb, and cherries are staring to ripen.

Comment by Annie Thomas on June 16, 2012 at 6:14pm

Here's tonight's harvest of cherry tomatoes.  I'm going to cut them in half and mix with a can of drained great northern beans.  I'll then add some balsamic vinegar and let them soak for a bit.  Top it off with some freshly cut basil from the garden and we'll have a hearty summer salad with dinner!

Sentient- I loved how you described your garden as a "Darwinian exploration of survival of the fittest"... so true!

Annie

Comment by Sentient Biped on June 16, 2012 at 10:26am

Annie, you are right - a lot of gardening is about seeing what works.   Everything is an experiment.  My garden is a Darwinian exploration of the "survival of the fittest", at least as far as what varieties grow, which ones produce, which ones fail.  As time passes, there are more successes, and the failures become compost to feed the next attempts.  Now you have me wanting to grow broccoli!

Comment by Annie Thomas on June 15, 2012 at 9:27pm

Tony- What a wonderful post!  I too used to have the yard where plants came to die.  I don't have a green thumb, but I also don't like to lose. ;-)  Gardening for me has been a humbling experience, but I carry on nonetheless.  My rule is that I try growing something three times.  If I fail all of those times, I move on to something else.  The third time I tried to grow broccoli, I was rewarded with plump, healthy looking florets!  I cut them 5 minutes before dinner, steamed them until al dente, and then enjoyed it so much.  My daughter commented, "This doesn't taste like broccoli.  It tastes so much better!" 

There's a big learning curve, and I fail often, but I'm figuring things out.  I'm glad you have friends who share their bounty with you.  Those are my happiest times... when I bring a friend or neighbor something from my garden.  I still can't believe I actually grew something!

Comment by Sentient Biped on June 15, 2012 at 9:21pm

Tony, thanks for the great observations!  I think for most people gardening isn't toil, it's therapy - but every person has what makes them happy on one person's work is another's fun.  Glad you get to partake of the surplus - in a garden well kept, there's extra to go around!

Comment by Tony Carroll on June 15, 2012 at 9:13pm

I'm not a gardner. Hell, that old saying my place is the place plants come to die describes me pretty well. But I wanted to say something to you all. Thank you very much.

One of the people I work with does grow things, and she brought in fresh picked tomatoes, peppers, and squash today. Picked as she was getting ready to come to work. And less than 5 hours later, I was eating fresh, sliced tomatoes with just a hint of salt and pepper. Nothing else needed. And pardon me, but it was a religious experience (lol)!

Every spring, I wait for this, and it did not dissapoint me. It always takes me back to my Aunt Pats garden, salt shaker in hand, plucking red ripe globes of perfection, wiping them off on my (not very clean) shorts, taking a bite, that sweet, bright, acidic taste, mingled with the earthy smells and plants, insects flying around in the mounting heat.

Sorry guys, but it brings back such vivid, childhood memories of sight, smell, taste, sound. I really just wanted to say thanks to all of you gardeners, potterers, mini-farmers, whatever you claim to be for this bounty you bring to me and others each and every year. As long as you continue to toil, I will gladly help you in my own way (lol).

Again, just thank you. Peace to all, and be well.

Comment by Michael R Mills on June 13, 2012 at 4:02pm

Ah well - couldn't have had chickens in Regent's Park....

Comment by Sentient Biped on June 13, 2012 at 2:19pm

Michael, the only thing I've found that will eliminate bishopweed is chickens.  I have a space that was covered with the stuff.  I fenced it in and let my hens run amok among the stuff.  The hens completely destroyed it.  Unfortunately, I can't do that in the rest of the yard.  It hasn't crossed some barriers, but areas that I had cleared out are now completely invaded again.  I hate that stuff.  Actually, thinking about it I haven't been feeding it to the chickens lately.  I should go out and pull some for them.  Other than that, I'm doing some mulching that helps a bit, but they sometimes poke through it.

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