Monday, September 30, 2013

Less(on) learned

It looks like a simple plate of Rose Quartz salad tomatoes.

But it represents so much more - and less.

Due to my very mysterious illness for more than the 1st half of this year, I was forced to cut back drastically in all my gardening efforts.

Rather than eschew vegs at all, I grew some close to the house for easy access and grew fewer items and less than normal amounts of those: tomatoes, peppers, onions, beans, kale and cukes. (CLICK HERE for pics)

I got less harvest, that's for sure.  But everything I DID harvest NEVER went to waste as they sometimes did when I grew too much.  (By the end of the season there were usually more tomatoes in the compost than in the kitchen.)

But this season, for the first time EVER, I never tossed a tomato.  Sure I still gave some to the good neighbor, and there was a whopping basket to Mom for her spaghetti sauce.  But, by and large, I've either eaten, made stock, souped or frozen-for-future-soups every tomato I grew this year.  Even when I took down those blighted vines around 9/10, the green tomatoes I picked at the time ripened on the table and were used up.   What you see on the plate is the very last of the fresh tomatoes this year.

Same with my green beans, yellow onions, and cukes - not much, but each really appreciated.  (There were never enough cukes and next year I hope to do better with them.)

But, by and large,  I enjoyed my smaller veg garden even though it was netted and, thus, a bit of a pain to unwrap the netting whenever I wanted to weed or harvest.  Still, the netting kept off the d^am deer!   All in all, this year was a more intimate gardening experience, so to speak.  I kinda liked that.  Veg gardening had gotten to be more of a chore than I liked to admit, but now I think I'll stick with this less-is-more approach.  Less aggravation - more appreciation!  We'll see how next year goes.... 

4 comments:

  1. I think you have made a wise decision. I need to follow.....when I do more than I can comfortably take care of, I am not pleased. Then, there is just the two of us so why do I keep gardening like I am feeding a family four? I am a slow learner.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Heck, there's just me here and I was growing enough for a roadside stand! I think it's the allure of actually growing food - food is good - more is better. We can't grow money or health or friendship or security. But we can grow food -- so sometimes we tend to overdo, I think. Hope you can find a way to comfortably cut back on the work and start enjoying the garden more.

      Delete
  2. It's nice when you can find that "perfect" medium. I've found that out for potatoes, onions, garlic and tomatoes. Now I just need to quit over-doing the lettuce/salad greens. I could feed a small army of bunnies....if I were so inclined.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since I grow my green in boxes in staggered plantings, I don't have that problem. I'll probably have fewer tomato plants next year - making way for a full-sized cuke trellis. I'm aiming for more stuff in less space. (Ya always need some kind of challenge to keep things interesting, no?)

      Delete

Thank you for visiting. I appreciate your notes, comments and questions and will try to reply to each one! :-)