Two months ago, I told you about my latest “ooh, shiny!” obsession — vegetable gardening. So…is it still shiny, or have I moved on to something else? (Besides the rocks and gems store. That was only a vacation fling. We live too far apart to make it work.)
Once the initial infatuation with my garden wore off, I realized how much work it was. The weeds came back! (Who knew?) The plants needed watering when it didn’t rain…and we haven’t even hit the hottest part of the year yet! Even my front hedge has weeds in it!
I bought more tools to fight the weeds. More “new and shiny” plants to make myself feel better.
Some of the seeds (spring onions!) never came up. Some of the plants (zucchini!) died, while others (hot peppers!) are on death watch. Still others are getting nibbled on…and not by us.
Our spinach was a total failure. Out of ten feet (rows) of seeds, we got two plants. One didn’t look healthy, so we chucked it. The other got picked at the last minute before it got too old too eat…then languished in our fridge while we forgot to eat it until too late. Oooops.
But…
The tomato plants are thriving. The sweet peas (flowers) are finally starting to climb the fence and not each other. The bell pepper plants are getting bigger. We’re eating lots of cilantro. We also have a ton of mint that needs to be picked so the one surviving zucchini plant next to it has some elbow room.
Each patch gets its turn at being liberated from weeds (I think of it as beating back the invaders), and while there are always more weeds, none of them gets very big before being repelled. (Around the vegetables, anyway. We won’t talk about the hedge.)
This morning while I was out watering, I noticed something new. First, the zucchini plant has started to put out flowers…which means we’ll be getting zucchini! Second, the carrot patch is suddenly full of teeny tiny carrot seedlings!
I am ridiculously excited by these developments.
I think that means I’m still hooked.
Stay tuned…
What happens when your current “ooh, shiny!” obsession wears off? Do you resolve to make it work, or do you break up and move on?