Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Veggie Wednesday: My Garden

It may be a healthy interest; it may be an odd fascination; it may be OCD - I don't know which, but I look forward to my daily morning walk to the backyard to check on (and often photograph) my garden. I head out in the morning to see what's grown overnight (yes, overnight!) and then head to the front of the house to check on the flowers' progress.

Every night before bed I water both gardens and look forward to doing it all over again the next day.

I've always been interested in the things we make or grow ourselves. I think growing up in the 70's had something to do with it. Everything we consumed came from somewhere else; a can, a bag, a box or a wrapper. Machines had taken over many jobs that had once been done by hand and crops from all over the world made their way into shiny plastic containers to be picked up, opened and dumped onto a plate.

One of the largest influences in my life was the Little House on the Prairie series of books. I devoured them over and over and stored away all those bits of information on how things were made "old school". Laura Ingalls Wilder did such a fantastic job of capturing and detailing the history of how things were done in the late 1800's and relaying it to her readers that I could probably live somewhere on a prairie or mountainside and not need a whole lot more than those books to help me along.

Once I was older and discovered how easy it was to grow things in a garden or a pot or make things like soap, I dove headlong into creating. I even made dresses for my girls completely by hand without the aid of a sewing machine. They weren't simple A-line togs, they had beautiful puffed sleeves and lined bodices. It took forever and surely contributed to my carpal tunnel, but I had to do it.

I feel the same way about my garden and the thrill each day as I see it progress is unequaled by anything else (except the creation of 7 kids - I had to overdo on that, too).

This is what my garden was "doing" this morning:


Tomatoes on the vine. Can't wait for these to be ready!


Green beans. These are always my bumper crop. We've harvested a lot already.


Two of the zucchini growing - and another blossom, ripe for the picking.


Little baby cucumber.



Renegade lettuce. The rest was already picked and this started growing again from the roots.

10 comments:

crpitt said...

This is the first year I have ever grown anything edible in my garden, so far the potatoes are doing really well!

Got a seed propagator on the go too, so putting various lettuces in this weekend :)

Your veg is looking great :)

kat said...

Oh, I'm the same way. I love going around & checking our my garden a couple times a day. As a matter of fact I just ate the sweetest little cherry tomato right off the vine.

Anonymous said...

Nice garden. We have a kitchen garden, and things are doing well too. We've had swiss chard, kale, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, onions and green peppers so far.

And I'm looking forward to the big tomatoes - which are also still green.


Cas
oh, and I sew and knit and crochet too. I guess some people like something to show for their efforts.
And I'm one of them

Jane O' said...

I just discovered your blog. I'm really enjoying it. I've added you to my blogroll. I'll be back.

Anonymous said...

Dear Anne,

Your photographs are gorgeous. I hope you branch out and consider a photo blog too.

Diane L. Harris
http://www.steppingintothelight.net

Anonymous said...

I love your photos as well. My garden is a bit behind you and now I'm afraid my tomatoes have grown so thick they won't be able to ripen, but now I know I can garden vicariously through you if mine don't work out so well!

Anonymous said...

Love a garden! Looks like yours is a little advanced compared to mine. I like to walk through it and nibble on this and that. I also love looking through the seed catalogs in winter. I posted some pictures of the garden and orchard a while ago. Cooking however is another thing! It always heats up the house so much in the summer, I need a cold fusion oven.

Anne Coleman said...

Claire, that's so cool! You'll have to take photos.

kat - at least I'm not alone!

Cas- I knew we were a lot alike ;)

jane marie - thank you so much!

diane, that's very generous of you to say - I think I still need lots of work there.

dalene, dearest- it's so good to "see" you!

Forestman, we all need cold fusion! Wouldn't that be great? You tell that loverly wife of yours that I said hello. Good to see you here, too!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous garden pictures! I just spent a couple hours yesterday and today pickling little beauties like the one in your picture!

This is our first year for a "grown-up" garden. Since the first year we were married we grew tomatoes and green peppers only. This year we've expanded significantly and we're really obsessed with it, too. I guess I'm saying I identify...

Alabama Librarian said...

Since we just moved a year ago, I am still working on flower beds and will hopefully start a vegetable garden soon.

I was an avid reader of the Little House books too, and I rediscovered them when my daughter grew old enough to read them. After not looking at them for 20 years, I realized how much they influenced my very descriptive writing style. Have you noticed the same thing?