Summer Gardening

A week ago i went to Home Depot and purchased most of my vegetable garden. I actually planted it the day after i purchased it. I was so proud of myself. I haven't had a vegetable garden for the last two summers. The summer before i ignored my garden and it failed miserably. Those of you who like gardening are probably sitting their aghast at these admissions of failure, especially if you know how well my Dad grew his garden.

Three summers ago i adopted my first dog. Esther, the wonder dog, loved to pick tomatoes and play with them like a ball. She loves to eat vegetables too, but not fresh tomatoes. Well, not that year. I gave up on the garden and focused on Esther and learning about dogs and dog ownership.

This past winter i decided i'd have a vegetable garden again. Well. I'd try again. This has taken quite a bit of thought. I had to decide how i was going to protect my tiny little vegetable plot. All of nine feet by nine feet. Once that was completed, i had to decide if i wanted to improve the quality of the dirt before i planted the vegetables. I decided to add llama beans (aka droppings) to the garden and some more dirt. The llama beans are supposed to be one of the best fertilizers ever. You can use it straight from the llama. k, it might be just a hair messy that fresh, but not much at all. It doesn't burn the plants, has very little scent and lots of nutrients. The scent reminded me of a freshly cleaned barn - mostly smelled like hay.

Oh and of course, the perennial question - to start from seed or buy starter plants. I was working out a method to start from seed. However, as most of you probably know, not only do i have dogs, i have cats. Therefore, i pretty much have no indoor plants. The cats like playing with the plants' leaves and in the dirt. I decided I'd purchase the starter plants. Maybe next year i can devise a plan for starting seeds inside, in spite of the cats.

However, a neighbor graciously gave me two beautiful tomato plants that she started from seed. They are heirloom tomatoes to boot. This was actually a great motivator to me to complete the garden. I decided I couldn't let the tomato plants fail and they'd look so sad all by themselves.

By now i suspect some of you are wondering what i planted... zucchini, cukes, string beans, watermelon, leeks, kohlrabi, green peppers, grape tomatoes (in a container), pear tomatoes, and corn (seeds). I also have some peas, carrots, parsnips, and beets in some containers. My peas aren't do so well this year. Maybe they will do better next year. I have found that a tomato cage works well to support the peas in the container. I also want to plant lettuce and swiss chard in some containers. But i need to get the seeds and i need more dirt.

Feel free to comment on the utter ridiculousness of growing watermelon and corn. It's too late in the season. I don't have enough room. etc. etc. etc. True on all points, but it'll be fun to see if anything develops. By the way, my corn has already popped and is about 3 inches high. I suspect it won't be "knee high by the 4th of July", but you never know. If the llama beans do their part, the corn and watermelon just might surprise me.