Adventures in gardening - Part 1

Our first spring, we rototilled the garden and planted everything - well, not quite everything. Actually, it seemed like a lot, but I don't think it was. But it was a lot for me.

I'm not a gardener. I've never been a gardener. When I lived in Brampton and my sister would visit from Connecticut, she'd plant flower gardens in front of my house, and friends would come over to weed when the gardens became overgrown from neglect.

I once had a small vegetable garden - repeat, once - 3' x 12'. A friend dug 3 feet down in clay and filled up the bed with all good things: compost, organic fertilizer, peat moss, sand, and bone meal. It was rich and loamy, and my plants loved it. I grew herbs and a few tomato plants and a zucchini that climbed the wall up to the second-storey windows. It was spectacular.

From then on, I grew herbs. Herbs are lovely. Most (except basil) are perennial and are perfect for non-gardeners like me: I like to cook with fresh herbs, and I don't want something growing that I have to fuss over.

So here I am now with a vegetable garden that's larger than my entire property in the city: approximately 3,500 square feet. This is what it looked like this year (add on 1.5' between rows):