From Your Garden to Your Shelves

March 15, 2012

A few years ago, I began growing some of my own vegetables during the summer. Around Mother’s Day, I would plant my first tomatoes, peppers, and herbs in the hope we would have fresh produce all summer. I learned some lessons along the way:

• Patience is a virtue, and I don’t have any. It usually takes at least 60 days for a tomato to mature, and that’s for the early blooming varieties. Yes, it’s like watching a pot of water boil on the stove, but the satisfaction you get from eating something you nurtured with your own hands is rewarding.
• Gimmicks are just that. I bought a Topsy Turvy for my first bunch of tomatoes. They hung upside down from a plastic bag baking in the sun, and I’d get my head wet every time I watered them. Nothing trendy can substitute for old-fashioned wisdom. I recycled Topsy Turvy after that.
• Squirrels are the enemy. Awww…aren’t they cute and fuzzy? Nope. They’re rodents who will steal your vegetables, take a single bite, and deposit them on your deck table to mock you!
• If at first you don’t succeed… You won’t get it the first time. You’ll be lucky if you get a half dozen tomatoes by the end of the season, yet anything worth having doesn’t come easy. So keep on trying.

If you’re interested in growing your own produce, come to the Dearborn Branch on March 19th @ 7:00 p.m. to find out how. Register here.

Anna H.
Dearborn Branch