Today was a great day in the garden – my ideal weather, some friends, and straight-forward tasks to finish. It started out pretty overcast and cool, but by the time noon rolled around, the sun was out and all the morning clouds had burned away. My primary goal for the day was tackling the squash plants and the tomato bed. The mildew had spread really badly across our squash plants and most of them had finished producing fruit for the most part anyways so it was time for them to go. I ended up removing one of our four plants entirely and trimming a lot of dying stems and leaves off the remaining plants that were still hanging on and producing new leaves. We’ll see if those plants continue to grow or not and how much more the mildew spreads. But even if the plants don’t grow anymore, it’ll be good to have that bed ready to clear for the fall and winter season.
Still going strong from the summer, our tomatoes have gotten way overgrown. There are at least six plants in the one bed and only two of them made it into cages so now they’re just a tangle of stems and leaves and overripe fruit. It’s such a shame to see all those tomatoes go to waste, despite us picking the fruit every weekend and people in the neighborhood helping themselves as well. I tried to trim off and move around branches to give the plants a bit more space, but I don’t think I made much of a dent. I could swear that the plants at one end of the bed are actually putting out more growth even though I thought they were well past their peak. I would hate to pull the plants prematurely before they’ve run their full course, but it’s almost bordering on ridiculous how they’re still putting out fruit. But until they do stop, I will gladly keep harvesting – it just means more tomatoes for snacking and bruschetta and pasta recipes.
While I was wading knee-high in tomato plants, Clara worked on spreading more woodchips on the paths and Alysha pulled the rest of our carrots. Some of them turned out beautifully! The carrot crop didn’t get properly thinned so most of them are on the small size, but I bet if they had been thinned, there would’ve been some huge ones. But nevertheless, they’re the perfect size for snacking and go perfectly with hummus.
It really speaks to my urban, citified life, that I’m continually amazed at seeing food come directly off the plant or out of the ground and getting to eat it that day. It’s still such a novel concept sometimes and an unbelievably rewarding process to participate in. I think if more people had the chance to grow their own food or work in a garden, it would help them not only to appreciate their food and all of the work that goes into producing it but also to connect with nature in a vital way. That hands-on experience, getting dirt under your nails and picking the food yourself, can be so powerful. If more people can recognize how much we truly depend on our environment for our own well-being, I would hope that there would be more support for innovative and environmentally friendly agriculture practices as well as laws that protect our environment.
The garden looked much tidier at the end of the day. Nothing new yet in our lettuce and spinach bed, but the pumpkins, beets, and sunflowers are coming along nicely. But I did get to take home two squash, a fistful of carrots, and another tub of cherry tomatoes. Right now, the forecast is predicting rain for next Saturday, but a lot can change in a week. Either way, the next time I’m in the garden, I will have to dedicate some serious time to weeding as they really are starting to take over again.
