Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Garden of Eatin'


This is my mother's garden, and I've never seen anything like it. You name it, she's growing it, and not just growing it--Miracle Growing super-sizing it. Above is a sample row of squash. She has another row that is almost sky waist high. Have you ever seen chest waist-high squash plants? I hadn't either.

Her thumb isn't just green, it's emerald.

In addition to squash (yellow and white), she has beets, cucumbers, green beans, strawberries, herbs, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, onions, okra, lettuce, a blueberry bush, a birdbath, a sideways bird feeder, a killer goose, two lame ducks, and a partridge in a pear tree a flower bed--all in the same space.

She's also created a sitting area from which to admire her killer goose and lame ducks beautiful garden and water view simultaneously. Not those upside down bushel baskets that date back to the Great Depression the 1970s daffodil business, but an actual sitting area with outdoor furniture.

To create just the right ambiance, she's placed Killer Goose Gustav's feeding pan right near the otherwise charming sitting area strung up white Christmas lights to take your mind off Killer Goose Gustav the buzzard-size mosquitoes trying to carry you away.

This amazing garden is already producing, and we're eating fresh vegetables almost every night. Another side benefit for her is she's lost a good deal of weight, what with all the weeding, hauling dirt, stooping, bending, chasing a killer goose, mulching, harvesting, weeding, watering and weeding some more.

Perhaps best of all, Chesapeake Bay Daughter has her own garden that my mother is helping her with. Aside from having to water and tend to the garden every day, CB Daughter is learning invaluable tips from CB Mother, such as how to avoid being nipped by Gustav how to properly plant okra seeds and transplant tomatoes.

Monday was the first official day of summer, according to the calendar. If my mother's garden is any indication of what the rest of the summer holds, I say bring it on.

Do you have a garden? What are you growing?

14 comments:

Jim_in_VA said...

Lots of Basil for that wonderful Pesto ...mom growing that? Great looking garden !!!

foolery said...

Fantastic! Yes, I have a garden. It consists of three tomato plants, 10 inches high, still in their sippy cups from the Farmer's Market three weeks ago. They live on my eastern kitchen window sill. I have named them Sleepy, Bashful and Grumpy and have promised to keep them as little kids forever. This is a huge success compared with years past.

Ann Marie said...

nooo no garden my thumb is NOT green it is pink which coordinates well with green but has no planting abilities.. will you please tell CBM that I will make her Pretee Lovilies if I could say maybe get a beet or two...

Meg McCormick said...

Well, most of the herbs I put out on my patio are growing pretty well. The mint made some tasty mojitos last weekend and I have more oregano than I know what to do with. The basil and cilantro - my two favorites - continue to languish.

When I was CB Daughter's age, I spent time in my mom's giant garden. Often, it was "you have to go pull weeds before you can go to the pool!" but truthfully, I enjoyed picking crops and eating stuff that we grew. It's so excellent that your mom is sharing her mad emerald thumb skillz w/your daughter.

Jamie said...

I think the soil down there is the perfect soil for gardening... I have clay. But, I do share a garden with my dad at my parents' house with the usual plants. I opted to place a pool where my old veggie garden used to be. The pool is more appreciated

Mental P Mama said...

WOW! We are gonna have some awesome blogfest noshing;)

Unknown said...

God bless CB Mother! I'm worn out with all the digging, hauling, watering....

Yes, i have a garden. Aisle 9-11 at HEB.

I miss your CB Mother and Gustaf...

Trisha said...

While I don't really have a vegetable garden, I do have tomatoes and lettuce in planters on the patio. I have experienced the joy and hard work of a HUGE garden though . . . my grandparents used to have a garden that was an entire acre big. When I stayed with them for the summers I weeded and picked and weeded and weeded some more. . . not fun! However - the taste of home grown veggies - AMAZING!

Daryl said...

I had a window box which last summer grew lovely impatiens and begonias. This summer the marigolds I planted died within 2 weeks .. then I had a conversation with myself where I agreed switching plants was dumb and it was still early enough to replant some begonias .. which I did and then a frickin' squirrel buried some nuts and killed the plants .. now the box is empty and I am sad ... I wish I had a real garden so whining about squirrels would not make people snicker ...

deborah said...

Marvelous garden, CBW! Your mother does have an EMERALD thumb! It is wonderful your daughter enjoys gardening, it will be a joy for her throughout her life plus she will have cherished memories.

I love gardening, and learned that love from my grandmother whose yard was filled with lovely flowers. As a teen and a little older, my dad grew 3 acres (yeah, 3 acres) of gardens. We (me & the mouse in my pocket) were expected to keep the gardens weed-free, all veggies picked, potatoes dug and produce processed for winter. Except for green beans, and my mother did those. Anyway, my garden now consists of a lonely cherry tomato plant, a super hot pepper plant, basil and 4 zucchini plants. I'm working on a lettuce bed for fall.
Daryl, if you leave those nuts in your window box, you will have little trees growing next year. A tree grows in....due to the actions of a squirrel.

Karen Deborah said...

I love this and you know your writing is just fabulous. Even when your serious your funny. Claps hands. Yep I garden. I HAD a waist high zucchini plant last week and these big white worms with orange heads ate the base and it is no more. But I planted other ones. Living on the veggie garden saves big bucks!! and all those extras you mentioned...so you going to show us your garden too? Have you got a water view in the background like that? Mathews is so gorgeous.

Country Girl said...

I'll have to take photos of my husband's garden. Smaller than your mom's but he's got a ton of stuff in there. Tonight we had zucchini and basil from the garden. The corn will be in soon!

Noe Noe Girl...A Queen of all Trades. said...

Now that is one good looking garden! The rabbits got all my peas, beets and lettuce! Damn varments! But my tomatoes plants are taller than me!
<><

Ann Flowers said...

Wow! this is a very good entry i like it. Will certainly visit your site more often.