It’s harvest day!!
Today I will be harvesting my lettuce and spinach, all of which were grown in the garden. I call it my garden because I am 99% responsible for this year’s gardening efforts, but it is in the garden at my parent’s house. We can call it a joint effort. (It’s totally my garden.)
Here’s how the story goes: Back in March, the College of Wooster decided that following spring break classes would go online for at least the two weeks following spring break, and then the situation would be reevaluated. Most students saw the writing on the wall, however, including me, and there was a wave of major depression and sadness. During the wave of depression and sadness, my friend Neva and I went to the local Wooster Walmart to get some items, and stumbled upon a rack of ¢50 seeds. Long story short, we both left Walmart with about $10 of seeds each. That would add up to a lot of seeds.
Then, school was officially canceled, I hit the road to come back home, and I took out my sadness and frustration on the garden. The garden was a mess. Nothing had been planted in it for years, and it was now my moment to shine. I spent glorious hours killing weeds, digging out chives, and turning dirt over. My parents got me dirt at the garden store, and I spent more hours putting dirt in, mixing it in with the old garden dirt.
Then I got to the planting stage. I planted spinach, different mixes of lettuce, beets, peas, and carrots. (The carrots did not grow. I have given up on carrots, despite multiple attempts.) Inside I planted brussels sprouts, bell and poblano peppers, and basil. Now that it is finally warmer, I have put the basil in the garden (it is not doing well, sadly. I did discover that this was due to a lack of water so hopefully it will start doing better.). I put in tomato plants, pregrown brussels, zucchini, and watermelon. I also dug myself a dedicated corn garden, and put corn in said garden. My corn garden is just a little spot next to the real garden. Sadly, it is not enclosed in chicken wire, so hopefully the bunnies won’t discover it for a while.
And today the day has finally come to eat some homegrown spinach and lettuce! Tonight for dinner we will be having salad.
Claire, this is great. The serendipity of buying seeds has led you to something quietly rewarding (and delicious). Don’t you just love serendipity? I like the way that word sounds. So let’s say it again:
SERENDIPITY!
Can’t wait to read the next post!
That looks so tasty Claire! Gardens are so very satisfying.
I love the image of you planting something new at the beginning of the pandemic, nurturing it, and now the blessing of new life (food) growing in abundance during this time… and your family enjoying the fruits of your labor (yup, your garden… call it what it is). I hope I (and we all) can learn from you and nurture the blessings in my life during this difficult time.