Christmas Is All Around Us

If gardening prowess were measured by marigold and tomato yield, then I’d be all set with a green thumb and then some. But, as our little Bee garden fills to bursting, we’re reaping as many disappointments as we are harvests.

Our cucumbers decided one day that they had had enough of the beetles that we failed to protect them from, and went from lush green to dead in pretty much one day flat. The next door neighbor offered the sage conviction that we had been “touching our pickles too much.” She may be on to something there, who knows. But our pickles survived long enough to provide us with half a dozen delicious cucumbers that were even tastier than the ones we’ve been buying from the farmer’s market. Definitely incentive to try harder next year.

My bitterest disappointment is my lack of sweet peppers. I have five plants that seem to be doing well, are flowering profusely, but are producing absolutely no peppers whatsoever. I guess they are not getting pollinated, but considering that they are boxed in on all sides by marigolds and zinnias, I wouldn’t have expected that to be a problem. Perhaps time will tell.

Overall, however, I’m pleased with the way our garden is coming along. Our four tomato plants are getting to the point of producing more tomatoes than we can eat. The vines are quite literally breaking through their cages, and are overburdened with fruit. Next year I will be sure to concoct some sort of trellis system that will be more suitable. And, as someone lately suggested to me, I may want to plant more than one variety of tomato plants next time. You live and you learn.

My most delightful harvest so far as been my black beans. I’m positively infatuated with the perfect little black nuggets of goodness. I must confess, I had to get online to figure out when and how to harvest them. Now I have a nice little pile that grows just a bit every day when I eagerly check for more drying pods.

As for my indoor growing efforts, I recently happened upon an unexpected surprise. One of my air plants that I purchased online several weeks ago seems to have given birth! I nearly dumped these two tiny babies down the drain after they separated from their mother plant during her weekly soak. It’s hard to get a good look at them, but they seem to be alive and healthy, so long as they don’t get lost upon a breeze before they get a chance to grow. I’ve already had to search the kitchen floor for them once. I think they got knocked off their window ledge by a fly.

I have a lot left to learn about growing things, and even more to learn about harvesting them and storing them and using them. That’s part of what I really love about getting involved with this whole gardening thing. I have the opportunity to participate in a Master Gardener course that is offered through Purdue University this fall. I’m looking forward to this immensely, as I’m sure it will help me to get a better grip on how to get things going next spring.

I can’t wait.