Tilling the Land…

When I was a kid, my parents had a little garden in our back yard.  I remember them planting strawberries and tomatoes and lettuces and even a few pumpkins…which is kind of weird, now that I think about it.  I mean, what do you do with pumpkins?  And who thought to call them pumpkins, anyway?  Pumpkin.  Pump-kin.  

So strange.

Anyway, at the time, I really wasn’t one for vegetables.  I favored sugar cereal.  Or Tangy Taffy.  But I remember loving the idea of a garden.  It was so magical to me that we could actually grow something from nothing…and then eat it!  Just like the REAL stuff we buy from the store!  Plus, my sister and I got really excited one day about plating a time capsule in the garden, so that people 200 years from then could know how profoundly interesting and intelligent we were.  I’m pretty sure there was a mix-tape involved.  And some posters from Tiger Beat magazine.  A few months passed, and we dug it right back up…we just couldn’t help ourselves.  All in all, the garden was an exciting place to be.

So a few weeks back, we decided…let’s be gardeners.

We figured, we’ve got this nice patio that gets lots of sunlight all day long, and the weather here has been SO nice and warm.  Plus, we love good vegetables and use fresh herbs all the time, so…why wouldn’t we become gardeners?

So one Saturday, after a quick trip to Canadian Tire (which, contrary to American assumption, sells WAY more than tires…it’s essentially a wannabe Fred Meyer), we became the proud owners of a glorious, top-rate garden (read: four small pots on our tiny patio).  

 

 

We’ve planted three varieties of tomato, and a small assortment of herbs, including dill, mint, and basil.  So far, we’ve already been able to clip some of the herbs and use them in the kitchen.  

 

Now…for most people who have, you know, a YARD with lots of room for various kinds of veggies–and who don’t have to start from scratch and purchase the pots, soil, gardening tools, and baby plants–gardening is probably a great way to save money on expensive fresh produce…especially if you consider the cost of organic groceries.  However, seeing as we started from NOTHING…and that we’re only growing a few items…AND that we were recently told that most people in the Northwest shy away from growing tomatoes because it typically doesn’t get hot enough up here for them to grow successfully…well, we’re not sure if we can even hope to break even, in terms of cost.

Still, it’s been fun.  We spend hours and hours gardening (read: approximately 90 seconds per day watering our four pots), and all that hard work has been good for our souls.

And now, I invite you to behold our beacon of hope for the future of our garden.  We are proud to introduce you to this, our very first tomato:

It’s the size of a dime.  

But we feel confident.  After all, we’ve got Global Warming on our side.  Bring on the sunshine, and happy gardening!