Wednesday, June 29, 2011

GARDENING IS MY THERAPY

I love gardening. I can remember planting my mom's way-past-fresh potatoes and onions and being so disappointed when my dad found them and uprooted them from their new homes.  Needless to say, my family never had a vegetable garden - for long, anyway.  But now that I have my own home, flat property and the time for daily watering and weed removal I am growing my own fruits and vegetables.  And LOVING it.  Last year Mr. Construction built me a 16x30 raised bed fenced in garden complete with locking door.  We are growing a variety of tomatoes, squash, lettuce, jalepeno/green/red peppers, cucumbers, peas, green beans, watermelon, pumpkins, strawberries, basil, mint, dill and rosemary.  To add to the fun, my daughters love being outside with me and helping me water - not so much weed... Some things I have learned:

-Water daily except after a storm (and in the morning)
-Tomatoes will split if the consistency of the watering changes
-Pick lettuce before it "bolts" for the best flavor
-The more you harvest, the more the plant yields
-Build your garden in a sunny spot with access to water
-Chipmunks enjoy the flowers on squash plants

What I have yet to figure out:

-How to get green and red pepper plants to flower and bear veggies
-How to keep chipmunks and birds from eating the strawberries
-How worms get into raised beds
-Why the leaves are turning yellow even though I water thoroughly

Happy Gardening!

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