Friday, July 18, 2008

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary


How does your garden grow?

First, my name is not Mary. It's Nicole. AKA Mom. But the garden is growing just fine none-the-less! However, if I were to finish the nursery rhyme, it would go something like this:

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. How does your garden grow?
With one red bell and toe-may-toes and lots of carrots-all in a row.

For those of you who were with me in the beginning, or even when I saw my first sprouts, thanks for all the encouragement. We've come a long way. I seriously didn't think I had a knack for gardening but family and friends assured me that it would be okay. That I could do it.

We built just two beds to see how I would do and how I would like it. DH commented that he can tell I'm already planning for more beds for next year's garden. I guess he can see the proud gleam in my eyes.

The girls have been great about helping me weed it. They were very confident with pulling the weeds until it became so overgrown that they couldn't even find the dirt any more.

I'm quite proud of where we're at now. With six tomato plants creeping over the fence. Six different varieties already preparing a nice yield. One red bell pepper plant surrounded by cooking onions and edged by a row of spring onions. We pulled and cut one of the large onions the other day and it was delicious.

My onion. From my garden. Delicious. What a lovely sound.

The bed of carrots is huge. In the beginning, I worked diligently to thin them as much as I could. Three zillion tiny carrots that are so close together that you need tweezers to thin them properly. No, I didn't do that. I did what I could then figured I would have lots of baby carrots in the beginning... THAT would be my thinning method. Well, those baby carrots are making a tasty addition to my salads these days. The girls and I pick a few each day.

And then there are the banana pepper plants... producing far more than what I could possibly know what to do with. That's okay though, we'll figure out something.

On the down side, we're having a major problem with Japanese beetles. It's annoying, but the girls and I are making a game of it. Each day, we head outside with our jar of soapy water and proceed to catch any beetle that dare raid our garden... or our bushes.

It has all been a nice bonding experience. The gardening and the bug collecting. And it's been a confidence booster, too. I love my garden and can't wait to have fresh tomatoes!

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