Personal Garden

Green Adventures: a series in which we invite you into the adventures from our journey.

With the arrival of spring we planted our home garden a little while back. Whereas last year we simply grew tomatoes at home, we decided to be more adventurous this year. We planted 14 different types of plants and are considering finding space to add even more. While I mostly planted from seed in my garden for the community, at home we planted seedlings instead (for a few unimportant reasons). The incredible thing is that we are already beginning to enjoy the produce from some our plants.

In the past a lack of available space has held us back, but this season we got creative. Most everything is planted in pots, with a couple things in the ground and a couple tomatoes in those upside down, hanging plant things. Surprisingly, this has worked out quite well for us. All of the plants have done well with the exception of the onions which are barely hanging on. A few of the plants seemed to be in shock after transplanting them, but have recovered nicely.

Here is what we are growing:

• Tomatoes (Roma, Cherry, Champion)
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Peppermint
• Apple mint
• Bush beans
• Strawberries
• Yellow Bell Peppers
• Red Bell Peppers
• Squash
• Onions
• Chives
• Blueberries

Our garden has not been without some troubles. I have already found a few green worms eating up our plants. We had a couple monsters last year that nearly devoured our tomato plants. Fortunately my eyes are a little better trained, and I have been able to catch them quickly this year (so far). Our problems have not ended there, however. The leaves of several plants, especially the bush beans, are still being eaten by some tiny, black, flying bugs. I am not sure what they are, but they like to hang around on the underside of the leaves and snack away. A round of organic bug spray has killed a good chunk of them, but more have come since. So far the level is tolerable, but I don’t like to have them either way. Suggestions? Finally, some animal has nibbled on a couple of our strawberries. There is a chance it is our dog, but more likely it is the birds that hang out in our yard. I could pick up or manufacture a net to cover them, but I will probably wait until they actually take the fruit or do some real damage.

These past couple years I have really rediscovered the joy of gardening. I love the connection with God’s creation and I believe that there is actually something deeply spiritual about gardening (I will make my case for this in a future post). I also enjoy the connection with the food. In a world where we have been so far removed from the food that we eat, it is great to know where your food comes from, what chemicals have (not) been used on it, and to have the pleasure of raising it yourself.

Gardening has also been a wonderful way to spend time with my daughter. She really enjoys helping me water the plants. She has actually gotten pretty good at it (she used to enjoy watering the bricks and the cement as much as the plants). I appreciate this both as a way to get quality time with her as well as to decompress for a few minutes after work. Also, she gets incredibly excited when we are able to pick ripe produce (especially the strawberries). It has been a bit of a challenge teaching her about fruit being ripe, but she has figured it out now. Of course, she does like to pick a basil leaf off now and then for no good reason. She will take a bite of it, realize it’s not so good plain, and spit it out. But we have come a long way from just ripping of produce or leaves for no reason. Gardening as a family has been a great bonding time that I really treasure.

I will continue to update you about the ups and downs of our gardening journey as we go forward. For now, I would love to hear more about your own experience.

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Also consider:

Green Adventures: Transforming Trash

Eco Theology: Repair Needed

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