This year I planted my first vegetable garden. I wanted to write about my garden as well as my vegan cooking. Hopefully I can help you in your veggie planting down the road. Technically, this is not my first veggie planting endeavor. I have grown veggies in pots on my deck previously. And I consider myself a gardener--plus I am a certified Master Gardener! I highly recommend doing this! Check you local university extension offices for more information on becoming a Master Gardener. I also joined a garden club. This, too, has helped me in my knowledge of all things planted.
A little history. I reside in the heartland--in Missouri to be exact. I grew up in the North--in a Lake Michigan town that is famous for two things: steel mills and the now deceased Michael Jackson. I live in the middle of my state--on a major river. Overall, this is a beautiful part of the country. We are in the hills of the Ozarks--and some of the most scenic views in the country are right out our back door. But here is what I struggle with most in living in the semi-south: summers are hot, and very humid, mosquitoes are rampant and by and large--you really don't want to step outside after dusk without your long pants, long sleeves and a high fan blowing right at you--it can be real fun. I notice, too, that the air is more still in summer--but as we all know, wind does like to show up--in the form of tornadoes, no less! My fear of thunder storms is almost too much for my husband to handle sometimes. I also find that some here think we are in Dixie, some even sound like they live in Dixie--the twangs and y'alls (I'm as guilty as the next for doing so--you just fall into it, like a march or something)--and some, well they are just as plain spoken as Tom Brokaw--bless his Nebraska heart. I can put my southern out there with all its charm, and just as quickly, give a cold, hard Northern stare. I like my Northern roots that way. We are polite, but are skeptics. Contemplative and weary of strangers. (Well, at least I am.) We are moody and get irritable when the temperature is above, say, 78--did I say "we", well, mostly just me. Summer is not my favorite time of year by a long shot. However, it IS beautiful and lush at its summer peak--honestly, look at the pictures--in mid-July, no less. But I prefer snow and cold. Maybe that's what makes it so easy to criticize and love it at the same time--we are fully immersed in the cycle of life here--four full seasons--never quite given a short cut on any single one. Fall, well, it is just gorgeous--and then winter--again, the snow for me is what does it. And spring is not only beautiful, it sometimes lasts well into July as it feels like it is doing so now with the cool spell we are in. So to pass the time and enjoy nature--I plant my veggies and tend to the plants as they bring on their bounty, but I won't shed tears when this all dies on our first freeze--I'll look forward to replanting the plants, picking up the seeds and starting all over again.
So--back to gardening and vegetables. In loving this place, I wanted to have an organic garden, sans pesticides and no tilling, if possible. I am highly in favor of "less is more" type of gardening and farming. As luck would have it, I found a used book called, Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza. This book is amazing! I followed her directions to the letter and began my garden in March. I laid out three 8'x 4' plots. I decided what I'd start from seed and what I'd transplant. I had help from my husband, of course--this was a pretty big undertaking to start out. You can see "green acres" in the photos here. I also want to add that we are growing pumpkins this year, too--how cute will that be--even cuter when they are covered in frost and I have a nice mug of hot chocolate in my hands and a fire in the fireplace--I can't wait for y'all to see it!
*In one of the photos, see if you can find the tomato plant--hidden among the perennials (no prize for this, but cool nonetheless!).
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