Procrastination never pays

^ My garden when I first got there this afternoon.

^ My garden when I left.

The good news is: my garden is fertile.

The bad news is: I hadn't planted anything yet.

Between going out of town for Memorial Day Weekend and rain seemingly every other day, it's been a few weeks since I had been to my garden. It was really too wet to do anything today, I figured, but thought I'd at least go check it out. As I was walking toward my plot I was starting to feel guilty. Everyone's gardens were looking so green and lush, and mine was going to be a giant patch of black dirt. Or so I thought.

I get to my plot and I think my jaw literally dropped open. My garden was TEEMING with plants. Carrots, dill, radishes, tomatoes - you name it. My garden is covered with lush, green plants. So then I had to debate with myself - do I tear up what seem to be perfectly good plants, or do I just go with what Mother Nature gave me and garden what's already growing?

Tearing up everything won out. It took me an hour and a half just to pull out all the stuff 6 inches and up. I called it a day after that, but I'll go back after supper and do some actual weeding and cultivate/hoe/till one more time. If all goes well, I'll plant on Thursday, assuming the ground is once again dry enough after raining all day tomorrow as forecasted.

Tracy the Gardener

Well, folks, this blog is about to take a sharp turn. While still technically about food, I’m switching the focus from decadent nights out at fabulous restaurants to me attempting my first garden. Wish me luck!

Fact: I know very little about gardening. My grandma always had a garden, and my mom did when I was little. So I know what a hoe is, but that’s really about it. I’m not exactly sure what sparked my interest in gardening this year, but I am lucky in that the City of Eden Prairie has community garden plots that you can rent for $54. They are nice sized plots – 20x30-feet – and I am giving it a whirl.

Tonight I went and hoed my garden. I guess I was expecting nicely tilled black soil just waiting for me to come by and drop seeds in Johnny Appleseed-style. Yeah. What I got is gray soil that looks like it has never been tilled in its life with a plethora of green things already growing in it. I don’t know much about plants, but I am pretty sure a good third of that garden is filled with carrots. At least, it WAS, up until the point I started hoeing it up. Till? Hand till? I’m not sure what the right word is. It’s basically a long stick with four long curved teeth on it that I used to till a/o hoe up the soil.

Hoeing took me about 40 minutes, which wasn’t bad. A perfect day for it – 75 degrees and gorgeous, with a breeze so you didn’t get hot. I am pretty sure I am going to be sorry tomorrow, as I can already feel it in my back. The soil in E.P. has a lot of clay to it, so it took some muscle to move it around. If I hoed every day, I would have fantastic arm muscles.

I am lucky I was able to hoe (till?) at all since I helped my friend Dee and her husband move last night, and most of my gardening stuff was accidentally unpacked at her new place. Going to have to make a trip over there this week.

I suspect one of the most difficult things about gardening will be carving out time for it. I am lucky that my plot is so close to home.

I did notice most of the other garden plots are fenced off, so I will have to look into that. Don’t want all my hard work going to rabbits and field mice.

The next thing I have to do is plant. I’m ready for it – I think!! What I don’t know is how much of the green stuff that’s currently in my garden needs to come out? I hoed/tilled it up, but some of it is still rooted in, I am sure, and otherwise it is just laying on top ready to take root again. So maybe I need to “weed” all that out before I plant? Probably. Advice, anyone?