Once again it's time to start thinking about the garden. Last year I did a small expansion to the garden and planted Hot Banana Peppers, Basil & Oregano in the new section. The problem was I didn't expand the fence with the same fencing and some pesty rabbits got inside the garden.I was just thinking today that my first garden was in 1994. Sue and I lived in a small bungalow in Harmony, NJ. This was our first place that wasn't an apartment. The house was small, quaint and reminiscent of a trailer home (only square). We were told it was a converted 'chicken shack' but I believe the chicken shack was converted (to a closet off of the kitchen) and the rest of the house was built around it.
You may have heard this story before (forgive me; I'm old). The garden that year was one of the best I could remember. I had about 8 plumb tomato plants and it probably yielded 20 tomatoes each before the summer was over. During that summer we took a trip to Disney World. When we left the tomatoes weren't yet ripe but once we got back (after a week) I had 90 ripe plum tomatoes!
So this would be my 17th year of gardening! Over the years I've come to realize that I can't grow green peppers. Of course it probably took me 15 years to realize this. Either I get 1 or 2 from each plant or an animal eats the plant before they can even grow. 2 summers ago I decided to put up a heavy (er) duty fence than the one I had up (which couldn't really keep a turtle out of). This was after a rabbit (or rabbits) ate all my peppers plants. Or it could of been the groundhog we had that year. I didn't see this horrendous action so I'm not sure what the creature was.
This year I have plans to grow a lot of Jalepenos, tons of Tomatoes, and some Basil & Oregano. I have ideas to create my own salsa. Now I just have to find a canning course.
Digging is not my favorite part of the planting process. This year my ipod made things go a little smoother. Some Dave Matthews, U2 and BB King made things right.
Growing your own garden these days has a good payoff (if you have the yardage). Who doesn't want to be able to pick their own vegetables or herbs right out of their own back yard? And with tomatoes at $3.99 a pound it pays to grow your own. I paid .90 cents for one Jalapeno a couple weeks ago.
If only I had a greenhouse I would grow all year long. But that's where the canning would come in.
So, I'm about halfway done. I had to stop today because of the heat (it's currently 85 degrees). I probably won't finish til' next weekend.
Happy Growing!
