I planted a vegetable garden for the first time this spring. I am actually surprised at how little I know about gardening. My mom usually had a garden in the summer when I was growing up. I would have thought something would have sunk in via osmosis. And I loved helping my grandfather in his huge garden though, come to think of it, my job was usually limited to the finding and killing of slugs.
I’m considering this my starter garden. Some things are growing nicely like the tomatoes and eggplant.
Other things…not so much. The pole beans are a hot mess. I grossly underestimated the amount of poles needed. I planted three seedlings per pole and it has become clear to me that I should have only planted one. I’m sure that this is common knowledge that I have somehow missed. The poor beans are just grabbing onto anything around them, including each other, leaving this tangled mess on the ground with one lucky plant flourishing up the pole. I also misjudged the poles and trellises needed for some other plants as well. I tried to remedy this as they were growing but I think it was too little, too late. You can see my efforts in the photo below:
Are those ski poles, you ask? Why yes! Is that an upside-down clothes hamper frame?? Indeed it is! Kudos to my dad for making some trellis-like-things for me out of scrap steel from his shop. But clearly, it looks ridiculous. I mean, it looks like I just dumped a bunch of trash on it. Or it looks like some sort of art installation commenting on a post-industrial green revolution.
The one vegetable that is growing at a rate that I can not handle is the kale.
all this could be yours!!
Kale kale kale. I’ve been eating it nearly every day for weeks trying to put it into everything. I never really ate kale all that much before and I’m not that sure what to do with it. Honestly, I grew it because when I saw Anthony Bourdain’s show on Greece he talked about how all the greens in the Greek diet make them some of the healthiest people in the world. Well, I wanted to become a healthy, strong Grecian so I thought I’d try my hand at kale. I’m finding it’s one of the heartiest, easiest plants to grow. Here’s where you come in. The first person to comment with a recipe incorporating kale will win some kale fresh from my garden. I will mail it to you. Don’t worry, when it’s fresh off the plant it stays good for quite a while. If no one has a kale recipe then the first person to comment with the word ‘kale’ will win. Just type in ‘K-A-L-E’. Please? Pretty please?? And, mom, if you’re the only one reading well then, I will just hand some to you tomorrow.
Also, if anyone has any gardening tips I would love to hear them. Including what grows well in this area and when to plant it. I’m hoping to have a garden every year. And I’m hoping this will be the only one with ski poles.
Will Sing For Food 