Is June really almost halfway over??? That's crazy. I am nearly done with my first year of college -- just two more finals to take, and then I'll be free until the end of September! This summer is going to be such great fun!
This year I decided to plant a little vegetable garden! I used to garden every summer, but I took a break from it because it was starting to feel more like a chore to me. But I recently read two books that got me inspired to get back into gardening again. The first one was The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball. This one is an autobiography written by a woman who moved from a New York apartment to a farm with her husband. Actually, it wasn't even really a farm when they moved there. They basically built it from the ground-up. I thought her story was fascinating and, though I would never do something that crazy, she did inspire me to start a modest backyard garden.
The second one was The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This one is definitely not an edge-of-your-seat page-turner, but I still found it super interesting. It's basically about the food system in America -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Michael Pollan has a garden of his own and his passion for growing his own food came through in the book. I also want to read his other book specifically about gardening called Second Nature: A Gardener's Education. I think it will be fun to read as I watch my garden grow this summer.
Another thing that got me back into gardening? Soaker hoses! These things are the best! I hated hand-watering my garden. I know some people like to do it, but it feels so unbearably tedious to me. I got this soaker hose at Home Depot a couple weekends ago and hooked it up to an outdoor faucet fitted with a timer. It waters for about 30 to 40 minutes a day. It is especially great for two reasons. First, I can set it up to water my plants early in the morning. I think it is currently set to go off at around 6 am. This helps save water because the sun evaporates little to none of it. Secondly, the soaker hose feeds water directly into the soil at the base of the plants, which also helps save water!
So, what is it that I'm growing? I know you're all in terrible suspense to find out. (That was sarcasm.) Firstly, those pictures you saw at the beginning of the post were of my little baby garden beans! I have never grown green beans before, so I'm excited to see how it goes. My dad has grown them before, years ago, and said that they grow really well here, so I'm expecting great things from the little guys. This particular variety is self-supporting, which means I didn't have to fool around with a trellis or any other sort of support system for them.
Also pictured above is my raspberry bush. My dad and I bought it on a whim a couple years ago, and apparently they grow really well here! This one has totally taken off. It's huge now!
Of course, I also had to plant the classics: zucchini and tomatoes! I'm really looking forward to harvesting the zucchini because I love baking with it! I have the best chocolate zucchini muffin recipe from The Love and Lemons Cookbook that I can't wait to make with some of my home-grown zucchinis. As for tomatoes, I planted four varieties: celebrity, pink brandywine, and two types of cherry tomato.
Can you tell I'm a little excited about my garden? This is going to be such a great summer. I'm looking forward to all of the things it has in store. Until then, wish me luck on finals!!
No comments:
Post a Comment