In and Around the Garden

The vegetable garden went in this week with a bit of anxiety. I haven’t managed a vegetable crop for over a decade, and never in a raised bed. The old garden patch was much larger (50’x100’) than today’s 4×15-foot box. That’s what I call it, a box. 

The plants growing along the sides are volunteer potatoes in the donated soil that I received.

Before planting in the box, I wanted to put drip tape down. It’s still on back order. I wanted hog wire panels put up for the heirloom tomatoes and blue lake beans to climb. My husband is working 16-hour days (Yeah, he’s working). But he’s my skilled carpenter. Without him, I have to make do. So I planted everything (cucumber, honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, onions, zucchini, and tomatoes) except the beans and sugar pumpkins. I’m using my son’s round wire cages for the tomatoes. 

As it turned out, the box wasn’t large enough for the beans or the sugar pumpkins. My mind, it seemed, still envisioned a large spread of earth on which to grow anything and everything I desired. Don’t get me wrong, the land hasn’t shrunk. However, the family did over a decade ago. Downsizing a garden is a lot like learning how to cook for two. You just have to think small. Copyright © 2010 Dianne Marie Andre