A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about planting a few vegetables in the garden. We already have some fruit, apples, berries, figs, a few herbs but no veggies, so this was a bit of an experiment. Last week was the first proper crop, so here are my thoughts on how it worked out.
I had a real sense of excitement when I planted the starter plants in the borders, and in the case of the potatoes in buckets and tubs. I was out there everyday watering and looking for signs of growth. Not much seemed to happen for three weeks, then slowly the odd flower could be seen. With any progress my excitement renewed. I’m pretty good with flowers, however vegetables are not something I’ve done much with before. I turned to on-line videos and tips to guide me through the process. Obviously with things like spinach, kale, and tomatoes it’s easier to judge when to harvest, but potatoes is another matter and bit more of a guess. Eventually I went for it, digging up the new potatoes in the various containers and bags.
I can’t claim to have grown a bumper crop of any of the veggies, and frankly the taste and ripeness varied quite a lot. My enthusiasm wasn’t dampened at all though, never have I been more excited to use ingredients in a meal.
So, what have I learned, definitely a new found respect for the work farmers do. Like many have already discovered, gardening is fantastic for mental health. Even though I do a fair bit of gardening already, growing your own food gave me a new buzz. I’ll only get a few meals out of it, so what, it’s been fun, and it all looks pretty good on a plate.
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