Winter Gardening Thoughts

My tiny garden pretty much completely died on me about a week ago. So I spent some time this afternoon clearing out the dead debris. It didn't take very long, it's only about 2 feet by 9 feet. The kids had a great time trying to pull all of the grass out of the backyard while I did this (I'm guessing that's what they thought I was doing???). Though I didn't get a whole lot of produce this year, I did learn a whole lot. This was the first time I ever tried growing food. To be honest, I can't even keep a cactus alive - true story. So the fact that I did get a whole lot of lettuce, radishes, carrots, 2 bell peppers, bowls full of cherry tomatoes, and an odd array of very miniature cantaloupe, watermelon and squash, had me very happy. I went into this project not expecting much more than to learn from my mistakes.

I'm kind of a nut when it comes to starting new things, and I pretty much go on information binges, trying to learn as much as I can in as little time as possible. Probably not the best, but it works for me. I happened to come across an article in an issue of Mother Earth News about winter gardening. So guess what I'm going to try? Hmmmm... I wonder... :)

The best part, I believe anyway, is that when I was rambling on about all my ideas to my grandma the other day. And told her about the book I wanted to find, she instantly asked me the authors name, and then ran (well, quickly walked) down to the basement and came back up with the exact book I wanted. How lucky am I? Plus, she had the cover I'll need for it, and it's just about the exact size I need it to be. Wow, it must be a sign that I was meant to garden in the winter, heh...

Oh, did I forget to mention that I need to climb on top of a chair to reach my little garden? Yup, it's behind a retaining wall in our backyard. I can't (because of association rules) have a garden in our itsy-bitsy backyard. Look at that sad tomato bush that's falling over the edge of the wall, lol. This was taken right before I cleared everything out. It's hard to see what's up there because of all the wild growth behind it - which I love to look at by the way, seriously, I think it's so pretty. Oh yes, and to the far right hand corner, the chair I climb - where there's a will, there's a way I suppose :)

Have a great day!