This gardening thing has a real learning curve. I may have failed with sprouting seeds, but my bulbs all went off like gangbusters, and once I bought the seedlings and got them in ground, I managed to keep them alive, mostly, despite the fact that some have been trying their darndest to die ever since.
So I messed up at the beginning part, I got really good at the middle bit, and now that I’m at the end I seem to have stumbled again. The heat has arrived with quite an entrance, and most of my garden is starting to shrivel.
Being the garden newbie that I am, I guess I didn’t realize that harvesting is a skill of it’s own. I naively thought that you just pick it when it’s done. Without really thinking through how you know something is done. Tomatoes are easy, and I’m seeing the benefit of that. I’ve eaten nothing at lunch but Cherry Tomatoes with goat cheese and Parsley Oregano Vinaigrette for over a week now. And then fried tomatoes for dinner. [Note to self – share these recipes]
Lettuce is another story. I seem to have gotten greedy and allowed everything to bolt in my attempt to let it get bigger before eating it. I’m hoping that it will work out that I’m now seeding for a fall crop, but I was SO mad at myself that I didn’t get to eat any lettuce for my trouble.
I had the same problem with my cucumbers. I’d heard plenty of warnings (which I just went on to ignore) about lettuce bolting, but no one ever mentioned that cucumbers would yellow and bitter too. Once again, I couldn’t resist watching the cucumbers get bigger and bigger until I missed my window.
At the beginning of the year I laid out my goals for the year, and in some ways I’ve done really great, but in others not so much. I really wanted to learn to improve my drawing (and I still do) but I just couldn’t resist the call of the garden. I think I’m going to sub that in and call 2009 the year I picked up gardening and leave drawing for next year.
But for it to count, I think I’m going to have to do better at the beginning and ending bits. Maybe next month I’ll give seedlings another try for a fall crop of carrots and greens and get to redeem myself.