Growing Veggies
I’ve just recently taken up gardening again, specifically vegetable gardening (the pic above is of a garlic chive and some green bean plants in the back). Long ago I used to grow vegetables and I had really forgotten how much I enjoy it. My love of cooking and eating natural foods totally goes together with growing my own veggies so I should have guessed. Plus, I’m always trying to squeeze more vegetables into my diet so growing them myself is a perfect incentive to want to eat them. On a bit of a whim, Brian and I planted a small vegetable patch. We’ve been lucky so far to have avoided insect infestations and plant diseases. My goal is to grow organic vegetables but I have a very limited idea of what that entails. With the help of some recently gifted and purchased organic gardening books along with trial and error (and a neighbor who likes to share his organic growing tricks), I hope to figure that out. Here are some more pics of our veggie garden, which has become my pride and joy.
We planted two zucchini plants with giant yellow flowers (which I know are edible but I haven’t tried), not knowing that they get HUGE! I’m glad that they’re happy but I’m a little worried our other plants are being overshadowed by the massive fellows.
This is our oregano plant (which is currently being crowded out by the gargantuan zucchini). I think he kind of likes living in the shade of a giant zucchini leaf, as he seems fairly happy. I used fresh oregano from this plant to make Jamie Oliver’s Sticky Chicken. Super tasty!!
These are our bush green beans. We bought two types – french beans and english beans, I think. One is a bush bean and one is a vining bean. Frankly, I can’t remember which is which. Those are our first edible beans on there. We’re waiting for them to get a bit bigger before we eat them up.
There are the vine beans in the back row. And then just beyond them, we have the chive plants and some garlic bulbs going (they’re not very exciting looking, though).
And last but not least….
…the biggest zucchini I’ve ever seen in my entire life!!!! Seriously. I do enjoy zucchini sauteed for a minute or two with just garlic and butter (and maybe a squeeze of lemon and some parmesan). However, a zucchini this special should become something special…like cake! So I think he’ll be made into my nephew’s 4th birthday zucchini and apple cake with cream cheese frosting.
I’m excited for the day when I have more gardening space. I daydream now about growing berries and fruits, maybe broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, potatoes…who knows. I’ve learned that it pays to buy plants from someone knowledgable who can give you good advice. I’ve bought veggie plants in the past from places like Home Depot. While they have a good selection, the people there don’t have in depth knowledge about growing vegetables and can’t always give you advice on alternative, chemical-free techniques. Plus, most of their seedlings have already been exposed to chemicals and may come from genetically modified (GMO) seeds. I think that may be why I’ve had hit or miss success with gardening in the past. So this time around, I bought plants from a stand at the farmers’ market where all they sell are organically grown, non-GMO seedlings. The guy selling the plants helped me plan what to plant, given the light and soil I have in my garden patch plus he gave me some great starter tips. And I’ve been able to go back as needed to get ad hoc advice.
I’ve learned that I enjoy a lot of things about gardening. I like working outside on a sunny afternoon tending to the plants and pulling errant weeds. Brian often joins me and it’s a nice thing to do together. It’s also nice to have someone else who can appreciate that we helped make something useful. Gardening also speaks to my abhorance for waste. I get great pleasure out of being able to make my unwanted veggie scraps, what would otherwise be trash, into usable compost and my compost into veggie plant food. It’s a pretty cool circle and the quickest way to happy, healthy vegetables.
