GARDEN DIARIES

I feel like I should tack onto the Garden Diaries title TO THE EXTREME! But in reality, the new garden isn't much bigger than the old one it's just not round. So...not so much EXTREME. Also, I had a brilliant idea of a drunk gardening edition. I poured me a glass of red and headed out to plant. Then, everything was planted and I still had a half full glass of wine. I had forgotten how easy it is to plant seeds, especially the little ones like lettuce and carrots. The kind that you sort of sprinkle and then smear into the dirt.

I tried to put a lot of thought into this year's veggies. It's easy to get carried away with exotic plants. The idea of growing Brussels sprouts is pretty tempting. But I needed to be realistic, stick with simple things that I know I eat on a regular basis. So I planted lettuce, carrots, onions, cabbage, potatoes, lima beans, spinach, and more kale (it does so well here, might as well). I saved room for tomato plants and basil and I'm thinking about planting a bunch of herbs in the old garden, just to fill in the space. I did do one exotic type of veggie. I planted asparagus. I know I won't get to eat any of it until next year and it requires a bit of managing, but I'm so excited about it.

I remember reading in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle about how if you really wanted to taste asparagus at it's best, you had to eat it the same day it was harvested. This means I have never truly tasted asparagus and the only way to do that is to grow it. So I'm willing to put in the effort. Asparagus is the perfect life metaphor. The ultimate test of patience. We need these tests in our lives.