For the past two years we have attempted to plant a garden on a tiny plot of salt encrusted soil behind our house. Tirelessly we plant, fertilize, water and watch our crops grow…or not. Striving to grow an yields less than half that of conventional gardeners, we expected to lose 50% of our crop to various wildlife. But, we didn’t quite realize what that means.
Now in year two we understand low yield means 10-12 strawberries over the season, 2-3 tomatoes and savory bits of various vegetables. And with this knowledge comes freedom. Lowering our expectations we don’t expect our carefully tended crops to yield bushels. Rather than gathering our crops and storing for future use, we snip off pieces as they ripen and savor them in situ, in our garden.
Renamed, our tasting garden we gleefully now plant whatever comes to mind. Soybeans last year (we harvested two pods), corn (not a traditional plant for Southern California) this year. Later in the season we’ll try pumpkins, while my DH watches for real bananas on his decidedly tropical tree. Who knows, perhaps he’ll be successful.
Meanwhile, we’ve cheerfully bought into the process not the outcome and that has been the best outcome of all.
Now in year two we understand low yield means 10-12 strawberries over the season, 2-3 tomatoes and savory bits of various vegetables. And with this knowledge comes freedom. Lowering our expectations we don’t expect our carefully tended crops to yield bushels. Rather than gathering our crops and storing for future use, we snip off pieces as they ripen and savor them in situ, in our garden.
Renamed, our tasting garden we gleefully now plant whatever comes to mind. Soybeans last year (we harvested two pods), corn (not a traditional plant for Southern California) this year. Later in the season we’ll try pumpkins, while my DH watches for real bananas on his decidedly tropical tree. Who knows, perhaps he’ll be successful.
Meanwhile, we’ve cheerfully bought into the process not the outcome and that has been the best outcome of all.
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5 comments:
A tasting garden! Perfect for us. I always envision a huge crop to freeze, but we usually just end up with enough for our summer meals.
Thank you so much for posting this! My husband and I have been wanting to start a garden for awhile, and I know that my daughter (2) would enjoy it. We were afraid it would be a lost cause due to various critters, but I see now that lowering our expectations is the key. I think we might start this weekend!
Oh, wow, I'm gonna re-name my sorry little patch a "tasting garden"! I swear I'm the only woman on Long Island...maybe the whole East coast...who can't grow tomatoes!
Thanks for your comments- in so mant things- it's the process that counts!
That's pretty cool. Great way to teach the kiddos to be content with what you get. :)
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