i'm a farmer!
Fall, 2006
Carrie here, reporting from zone 7. Last summer, I got a little plot in the garden at my workplace. I've never really had a garden before, so I was ridiculously proud of every tiny misshapen vegetable that came from it. I took them home, brutally dissected them, and served them with great ceremony to a bemused James.
Here's the freshly planted plot. I did not grow that sidewalk.
The babies. Tomato in front. Lemon balm, eggplant, and bell peppers in background. That lemon balm grew from a seedling to roughly the size of a pygmy goat.
They grow up so fast! This variety is prudens purple. The regular tomatoes take forever to grow and ripen, so next year I'll plant cherry tomatoes too.
Eggplants grew really well, and they are so pretty. I only got 2 fully ripened peppers (from 6 plants) before the cold set in and killed them. What gives!?
Cukes! We ate so many that it was almost a blessing when the plant died from some mystery disease (bacterial wilt?)
Can't elope with you, I'm already married! We got 3 nearly-flavorless 'lopes before it caught the same disease as the cukes and kicked. Bonus trivia: canteloupe is Tuna's favorite food.
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I didn't have enough space to plant enough sweet corn to make the cobs grow properly, but it's fun to watch the stalks grow. I didn't read the seed packet (bad girl!) so I was not expecting the silks and husks to suddenly turn BRIGHT PURPLE. What a great surprise! The 1/2 cup of tiny yellow corn kernels we got was very tasty.
I love marigolds. Or anything orange really.
Update!
In mid-August, I replaced the corn with swiss chard, and planted some cauliflower seedlings I got for free. After growing up in zone 5 (rhubarb country), having a second growing season is a real novelty. Just about the only thing I like about the weather in The South.
Update #2!
This is a photo I took on Dec 21. Thanks to global warming, my fall crop was alive to see the new year, but the little plants aren't producing any, uh... produce. That's a real U.S. nickel in the photo next to a tiny cauliflower-ette. My mother-in-law Mary suggested I wear this as a corsage!
