Green Thumb

The garden on its way out, photo taken September 15, 2008.

I enjoy growing food for my family and knowing that some weeks when we can’t afford groceries, I can just run out to my garden and plan what we’re going to eat. This year exploded my black thumb. Not even three years ago, I claimed that there was no way I could grow anything. I was just too untalented and I lacked the time.

What changed?

The answer is simple and ultimately heartbreaking. My grandfather died. My grandfather – whom my dad could always run to and ask him questions about what plants could be planted near each other in the garden and which should not (whom? I need some grammar lessons). My grandfather who had an entire room built on to the side of his house just for his plants. I used to enjoy sitting out at the bistro table with my cup of milk with a dash of coffee and his cup of coffee with a dash of milk.

Me, dancing on the site of the construction of the solarium, year unknown.

When my grandfather died, plants were donated to his funeral. My dad received a selection of those plants, but knew he couldn’t take care of them. I asked if I could have them. This was rather a death sentence for the plants, which my dad knew, and I think he hesitated before he brought them into my hands.

Surprisingly, they haven’t yet died. It’s been a little over two years since Grandpa died. He was born on November 8, 1929, and died on November 4, 2006.

When my dad gave me these plants, I knew I was going to have to bone up on plant care, because if I let them die my ass would be grass. I started reading some books and asking questions of my now mother-in-law. As it is, I think they are still a little pitiful looking, and hopefully I can continue to learn so that I can become a good house plant mom.

The Transition

Ultimately there is a difference between vegetable gardening and growing house plants. So how did I make the transition from a peace lily, china doll, and rubber tree plant indoors to an outdoor vegetable garden? In the summer of 2007, we grew a few tomato plants and peppers plants straight in the ground, but it really didn’t work out that well.

November of 2007 had a bug climbing up my bum, and I decided to become mostly-vegetarian as I put it. My entire family eats less than ten to fifteen pounds of meat a month (with the exception of my husband, who likes to eat out for lunch). That’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This means that when we grocery shop, we buy vegetarian and vegetarian only. We add in meat later from our share from Grass Run Farm. Their meat is absolutely delicious, and I get to know that I am eating from a local-ish source (their farm is 136 miles away from my house, approximately).

That winter, I decided that our current mode of eating wasn’t good enough, and I started to plan a full scale garden. It may have been that we were covered with snow and even more snow. I needed something happy to think about. I set some goals for this year.

Here’s a basic outline of what I’ve got planned (in my head) for this year:
1) I would like to scrape up enough money to build several cedar-board raised beds behind our garage where we had tilled last year. Eventually, I’d like the entire area behind the garage to either be raised bed, compost bin, coldframe, what I’m calling a “gardener bin”, shed, or some kind of ground cover (perhaps a type of stone with mint or something else grown in between it). No grass at all.
2) Build the compost bin, coldframe, and gardener bin.
3) Plant tomatoes (cherry and large), corn (new), green beans (new), peas (new), peppers, eggplant (new), squash (new), Camellia sinensis (new), and hops (new). I’d like to plant more, but this is my “starting list.”
4) Maintain raspberry and blackberry bushes, strawberries, and giggle at the grape vine.
5) Finish the fence.
6) Plant/transplant herb garden.

And I began. When it got warm enough, we rolled up our sleeves and set to work. We built six raised beds (approximately 4′ x 8′ x 16″ tall) for the garden and started shoveling the free compost from the city. I had my doubts about whether I could start a garden from pure compost, but it seems that my doubts were in vain. My garden had no problem growing.

So did we meet my goals?

1. We opted for cinderblock beds which are ultimately less pretty, but cost less than half as much as the cedar-board raised beds. We put in the raised beds, and hopefully next year we can put in the compost bin, coldframe, and shed.

2. Next year.

3.We had beans, peas, raspberries, corn, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, jalapenos, bell peppers, anaheim peppers, cayenne peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, white onions, red onions, scallions, carrots, three types of tomatoes, and so much lettuce that I know I will not plant so much next year.

Everything grew except the corn, pumpkins, squash, and cucumbers. We ate from all of that produce, and made wonderful meals with it. I was so proud of myself and my garden. Sadly, the squash, pumpkins, and cucumbers were hit by some sort of ugly pest and they all died. We had one tiny ity bitty cantaloupe before the plant was decimated, and only one squash. No cucumbers or pumpkins made it.

4. Our strawberries were picked off too soon for us to eat any, although we did have plenty of raspberries, and I giggled often at our non-producing grape vine.

5. We finished three sides of the fence and just need to fill in the gap between the house and the garage with an arbored gate and fence section.

6. I had many herbs, some of which I’ve dried for use in my house this winter. I want to do more of this for next year.

The Future

Next year, I hope to grow more and to can and freeze it to last throughout the year. I will set more goals for my garden soon, and I will be more proactive about harvesting and keeping up on maintenance in the garden, without a wedding, reception, and school work to wonder about. And with my sister moving back into town, maybe she will want to plant something somewhere in our yard to have a local source for food. And maybe I can convince her to try growing something indoors or on her balcony (if she has one), because truly, if I can do it, so can she.

And so can you.