I've had gardens before. Some have even been spectacular. Others...ehhh...just average. To quote an old Salsa song, however, I've always contended that "de acuerdo a la semilla, asi seran los frutos que cosecheras." That is to say...according to what you plant, so shall you harvest. More or less.
So...I planted sweet corn. And beans and tomatoes. Those, I knew, would be eaten. I planted some beets, because I'm one of those crazy people who actually love both the way they taste and the way they smell when you cook them. Pure earth. I planted potatoes, and cucumbers, zucchini and collards, acorn squash...arugula and onions.
I figured what the hell...I have the space, I have the knack...I get full sun. It will put some fresh produce on the table, in the freezer and in a few canning jars.
It is doing most of those things, but the summer isn't yet over. The harvest, at least here in the Northwest, has only been coming on for the past 4 weeks. The tomatoes are still sitting there on the vines, playing hard to get. "Maybe I will...maybe I won't." Tomatoes are the most...excuse me for saying so...female of all the garden crops. You think you know what you're doing...but you aren't really sure until you get a good crop of fruit. And sometimes you get a great crop, and other times you get nada...and you swear to yourself..."what did I do any differently?"
But I digress.
What I've found with this garden, this year...is that perhaps the best thing I have reaped so far from it...is something I didn't plant, and didn't anticipate. As much produce as it has provided so far, it has provided that much and more in terms of my own mental health. It has soothed me and calmed my spirits, even as it feeds me.
I don't think I'll ever NOT have a garden again, no matter what is going on in the economy.
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