Remembering what is important

The beauty of the harvest, better than diamonds, gems and other material goods.  What could be more meaningful than the sweat of your labor resulting in the sweet taste of snap peas, the crisp crunch of cucumber, the savory flavor of fresh picked onion and carrots, the richness of the beet and the colorful zest of tomatoes and strawberries.  A great reminder of what is real in life.

The disappointment of yesterday is overtaken by the joy of perseverance.  The eggplants on the right front have developed the buds that will turn into fruit.  The beets in the middle front have been harvested and a new zucchini planted.  It may be too late in the season for the squash family, but the new feeling of hope has sent caution to the wind.  The flat leaf parsley just behind the new zuc is thriving and made my watermelon gazpacho especially tasty.  After battling the materialistic daily society the return to the soil and personal physical effort of the organic garden revitalizes and replenishes the soul.

The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew . . . (okay its only four)

Fresno Peppers

Jalapeno Peppers (what a bouquet!)

Spicy Thai Peppers

Who knew Cayenne Peppers grow so long?

These peppers were the stars in our spicy chili served over barbequed hot dogs for tonight's dinner.  The simplicity made the joy even greater.

After harvesting the snap peas and removing failed plantings, hope begins again with the planting of head and leaf lettuce. Succession planting continues. 

This head and mesclun lettuce is almost ready!

The long winter slowed the growth of the tomatoes this year, but they too persevered.  Check out these developing beef steak tomatoes.

But, these are not doing too well.  The "back forty" does not have enough water.

The finale.  Life reflects the beauty of growing old.  As one matures, some opportunities are harvested, others are missed.  But in the end, the beauty of the whole being shines through.

Artichokes not harvested were allowed to bloom to a different gloriousness.

Despair and Hope

We start with an idea of what we want to accomplish.  We develop a plan for achieving that goal.  We even follow that plan and allow ourselves to become intoxicated with hope.  But sometimes no matter how great the plan and how careful the execution, we are disappointed.  

Above is the execution of my plan for harvesting lettuce, arugula, carrots and strawberries.  The lettuce up front has not even sprouted, the arugula has some sparse sprouts struggling to survive, the strawberries are eaten by wildlife before we can get to them and there is no evidence that carrot seeds were even planted.  The despair sets in.  We know that our expectations were set too high -- the intoxication has resulted in our current hangover.  We rationalize that the season has only just started, the year is long, the opportunities for success can still present themselves. We continue to take stock.

The basil twins have not progressed and are struggling to survive.  I spread some compost with a dose of hope.

The new pepper plants are progressing slowly.

The pepper plant from last season (large one in the back) seems to be doing well and may actually provide another crop of peppers.  The peppers in front were planted this season and seem to be slowly, slowly growing.

Even while despair settles in and our enthusiasm for achieving our goals wane, we start on new endeavors.  Six bush cucumber plants were planted today, along with a flat leaf parsley (the seeds planted in April for parsley have not sprouted so we are hedging our bets).  More compost was distributed to give these seedlings a shot of encouragement.

We continue to cultivate hope that our dreams will be realized, to overcome despair from our daily failures, and to pursue the opportunity to achieve our goals.  We often need to adjust our goals as we learn what we are capable of achieving and to modify our expectations as we experience limitations.  As Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day!"

April Heat

Today was almost 90 degrees!  Although the sunny and warm weather will likely still fade away to return later, I was inspired to plant the first round of lettuce.

The rows in the front are Bibb and leaf lettuce, the four mounds in the back are arugula.  The fence line is planted with snap peas.  I also planted multi-colored carrots.

The rows in front of and behind the scallions are carrots.  Next are the strawberries.  I will plant more lettuce in a week or so for succession planting.  Below is the open area for the next plantings.

Here are the tomato plants, next to the celery plants.

And finally, the artichokes!

It feels like a new beginning, again.

Tomato Mania

Yesterday was a beautiful southern California day, sun was shinning, sky was clear, and Tapia Farms was having its annual TomatoMania festival.  There were tons of varieties of tomatoes and some herbs and veggies.  We restrained ourselves this year and agreed on only 4 tomato plants.  We got two cherry tomatos, one orange cherry tomato, and one beef steak tomato, all indeterminate, all non heirloom.  We are planting two of the plants in new locations that seem to have good sun and water.  Two of the plants will still be in the back forty with some water challenges, so hopefully they will do okay this year.  I bought two sweet basil plants also.  They seem a bit frail, so we will wait on see if they survive.

Of course, today it is pouring rain!  I am sure the plants don't mind but I keep thinking Spring is here, but it refuses to really arrive.  I am holding off planting lettuce until we have more warm weather.  So the garden is a bit of a hodge podge, with fallow squares where the lettuce should be.  I will post pictures once the sun comes out again.

First Plantings

Although Spring is technically not yet here, it was 85 degrees today!  The itch to start planting just had to be scratched, a little.  A trip to the garden store netted new garden gloves, lots of seeds and some seedlings.  I planted today a Serrano pepper, a cayenne pepper and another pepper that I have forgotten.  Time does that unfortunately.

I also planted seedlings of snap peas in the trench; although I have had difficulty getting the cucumbers to grow in the trench, I am hopeful for the snap peas.  Times does that too, fortunately.   Snap peas were also planted along the garden fence as I figure they can climb up and over.

The garden store had a bunch of celery plants, and although I thought celery was a winter plant and I have not had luck with it, since they had such healthy looking plants, I bought some to give it a go.  I planted in a lovely mound where they will get plenty of water and sun.  Unfortunately the spot is where my husband usually plants his tomato plant, which he irritatedly advised me of after I finished planting.  We need better watering methods for the "back forty" so that the tomato plants can be planted there in the large sunny place.  Perhaps my accidental planted of the celery in the tomato spot will incentivize a water solution.

I also found some nice yellow onion plants and planted them back by the strawberries and next to where the lettuce will be planted.  I believe the onion will help with pest control.  I also planted marigolds along the path as my usual pest control and vibrant color solution.  Some things don't need to change.

Lastly, I planted seeds for some beets.  I still have two plants growing; must have been seeds that only grew after the other plants were removed.  So I planted four more beets plants in the same location.  I plan to plant another six plants, but will plant a little later so that we have beets throughout the summer.  I am excited about the new garden and hope I have not started too soon.

Time to Begin Again

Walking this morning in the crisp fresh air with a hint of warmth from the sun, we noticed the bulbs  protruding, the cherry trees blossoming, the trees starting to leaf and other signs of Spring.  The garden stores have started advertising availability of herbs and vegetable plants and outdoor garden furniture.  My garden is still overgrown and untended from the Winter.  So, I took the first step toward the new beginning and dug up the old dead veggies, dug up the dirt and turned it over to prepare for the new plantings.  The soil is a bit clay-like, very wet but a deep rich dark brown.  Not much will need to be done to prepare for the new crops.  My artichoke plant has already blazed into leaf and is spreading its wings broadly; a very nice way to start the season.

I decided to better ensure success this year by tossing out all my old seeds.  Now I need to plan for the new season.  I will increase my beet plantings this year, with last years wildly successful and tasty beets, I am hoping for a redux but with more space committed to these wonderful veggies.  I will plant carrots, lettuces, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and eggplant.  I would like to find some flat leaf parsley and sweet basil.  I think I will try larger areas of snap peas and cucumbers and see if I can't get enough going to actually have something to harvest.  I am not sure what else I will plant, but I look forward to the challenge.