Gardening

Despite having an advanced degree in Plant Biophysics, during which, at times, it was required that I grow my own spinach plants, the truth be told -- I'm not much of a gardener. And up until this past spring, in addition to my perennials, which take care of themselves, I hadn't planted more than a half a dozen basil plant -- for pesto.

Still each spring, I would look out into our garden areas and envision beautiful flower beds, surrounded with even edging, not a weed in sight. What I got every summer are weed patchs with the odd Brown-Eyed Susan or daylily sticking up here and there.

Well this spring, I vowed it would be different. We would have a real vegetable garden with tomatoes, peppers, basil, corn, green beans, and giant gourds. Why these plants? The tomatoes, peppers and basil -- from the gardens of my youth, and corn, green beans and giant gourds -- because two years ago when I was all gung-ho about gardening and let the kids pick packets of seeds, those are what they picked. Would they grow after sitting about for two years? Only planting them would tell.

So in the spring, with all my usual gardening enthusiasm I planted. Well, I first I composted -- innoculating the soil with enough cantaloupe seeds to fill 50 acres, and then I planted, and watered, and weeded.

The store bought plants of tomato, pepper, and basil all did well. As of writing this blog I have enough basil to give pesto to everyone in our hometown. And enough tomatoes that our lycopene levels have increased 100 fold. The peppers were a surprise. Turning out to be mislabelled -- we thought sweet when they were hot. We haven't eaten as much of them. But I just found a maple pepper pickle recipe I might try.

Of my "from seed" attempts, the cantaloupe were the first to emerge. And I must admit I weeded out about half of these rogue plants. Followed by the beans, then the corn and finally the giant gourd. Little spindly plants -- that didn't look much different from the cantaloupe. Did I really plant gourd? And what does one do with giant gourds anyway?

June and July -- I watered, weeded, fertilized and waited. Then August, and our vacation came. Two weeks we would be gone. Who would watch the garden? Luckily friends and neighbors offered to water. And when we came home I found everything bigger, everything fine except the gourds. I had planted three mounds of 8 seeds. When I left I had thinning vines. When we got back we were met with plants that are threatening to take over the parking lot next door to our house.

Still, what does one do with a giant gourd?