Such is life

My vegetable garden has evolved slowly over the past 5 years or so. When I first started, I only grew peas and herbs - the former because J and JBL love peas, and the latter because we use herbs in cooking frequently and hate paying through the nose for them at the grocery.

From there, I gradually added plants until last year, when I had a decent-sized plot (6' x 10') that included peas, parsley, basil, rosemary, jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, string beans, carrots, cantaloupe, and watermelon.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what I am doing, so my success rate is mixed at best. The cherry tomatoes took over their space and that of the beans. This was providential - as it turned out, I was the only one who wanted to eat the beans anyway. Based on 3 full rows (planted a second time when there was little action after 4 weeks) I received exactly 4 anemic carrots. The peppers and basil floundered in the shade of both tomato plants. The melons went wild - I ended up wrapping them around the perimeter several times - but didn't actually produce ripened fruit til September. I spent my days shaking my head in consternation while either watering or weeding.

The only plus (well, besides watching the whole process, which was cool), was that I found JBL and K actually enjoy home-grown cantaloupe after actively dissing store-bought melons for years.

This year I am taking a pared-down approach. No melons. Only plum tomatoes, and only 2 plants at that. Ok, maybe 3. Lettuce in place of beans and carrots. Same herbs and peppers. That's it.

So far, the cool weather veggies are all that I have planted. The peas are going gangbusters, as always. I could write a whole post on the various trellising systems I have employed, but it would bore us both to tears. Let me just say I have found success this year with rabbit fencing, and will use it also for the tomatoes in place of those ridiculously ineffective wire cones.

The lettuce, on the other hand, has been fickle. I have now planted two full rows twice and have only a handful of plants to show for it. Oh, they're vigorous little things, but what about the others? It is beyond frustrating to have no idea when my efforts in the garden will come to...ahem...fruition.

Easy enough, you may say. You plant seeds, and amend the soil where needed. You water when it doesn't rain enough. Sometimes the seeds grow and sometimes they don't. But you don't understand. What does that do to you? I for one am more than troubled when I plant something and I just...fail. Without adequate reason. But such is life, my mother used to say. Such is life.

So out I will go this week, finally buying shrubs for the west side of the house (hello Steeds Holly and Silver King Euonymus!), and perhaps purchasing annuals for my front-porch containers. I will think and plan and hope and plant. In the garden, at least, I am not paralyzed by fear of failure...