Every undertaking starts with a push - whether it's a conflict, a passion, or a challenge from your husband. In my case, frustration with my garden has caused me to start this blog. It's kind of a spin on the old adage attributed to Aristotle, "Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach." If I commit to writing about gardening, I will learn about gardening
My lack of gardening talent seems contrary to my love affair with food.
I love to cook.
I love to shop for food.
I love to read about food.
I love to sell food imagery.
I love to talk to food entrepreneurs.
I love to help people market their food product or service.
I love to get cooking tips from chefs.
I love to watch food shows on TV.
I love to encourage my 3 year old son to eat good food.
I love to eat food.
It would only be natural that someone who loves food this much would love to garden, right?
Not in this case.
People talk about their gardens all the time. How they have "So MANY tomatoes they don't know WHAT to do with them", how they have "Spent the last weekends of summer canning", how they shared their bounty with friends and family because they "Couldn't possibly use all the vegetables they grew themselves."
I have tried to have a garden. This year I bought lots of pots. Big pots. I decided to skip the seeds and start with plants. I purchased tomatoes, peppers, green beans, eggplant and herb plants. I purchased organic potting soil. I planted, I watered, I waited. The summer grew hot. I rotated my pots, I watered, I waited. I got poison ivy in my backyard. I recovered. For a while I resented my backyard. Then I watered some more. I occasionally bought a bit of organic plant food and watered my plants with it. I had no rhyme or reason. I had no method. I was playing it fast and loose.
The result? Here is my yield from the summer of 2012:
Okay, I had a few more tomatoes and maybe another green bean or two before summer's end. But I think it's safe to say that my family had NO trouble eating everything that was grown in the pots. There was no canning. There was no sharing. It was not fun. And let's not even talk about the cost of pots, plants and occasional plant food. My gardening efforts had produced nothing more than a deficit. Onward to 2013. I am looking ahead and making a plan. I've got a copy of "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew, the square foot gardening guru. He says his book is for beginning gardeners and that his technique is simple, easy, and will revolutionize the way I think about gardening.
I'm in. Join me as I learn about Square Foot Gardening.
