Okay, I have a dirty secret to admit to all you Tacoma gardeners. I moved to Seattle. But in an effort to stay true to my roots, I left my garden plot in Tacoma, vowing to see it through to the end. An old roommate is watering the garden for me, and I’ve been making it back when I can find a spare Saturday. But for the past several weeks I’ve been traveling so much that a spare Saturday was hard to find. So when I finally returned this past Saturday, my neglected garden was in for some work.
My peas were lying in a sad, tangled mess in the dirt, so my first priority was to build them a trellis. So a friend and I found two wood poles in the shed and pounded them into the soil. When a search for string came up with nothing, I grabbed an old electrical cord from the shed floor, and we wound that back and forth between the two poles. “Now that’s urban gardening,” my friend said as we lifted up the peas.
My spinach wasn’t doing so hot either, thanks to a host of slugs who come out at night to dine. But my friend promised to leave them some cheap beer to quench their thirst…and kill them.
The biggest shocker was the discovery that my beans were in fact tomatoes, a discovery a much more garden-smart friend aided me in. I had received some hand-labeled seed packets from a friend back in November, and apparently she mislabeled the bean packet. It remains to be seen whether the smallish sprouts are going to yield any fruit, as I previously reported that I put them out into the cold a little too early.
I also now have a potato plant and a squash, leftovers from my not perfectly composted compost, but hey, not the worst thing that could happen.
But my broccoli (gifts from Patrick at L’Arche Farms) are doing great, a few carrots finally decided to show their heads and my shallots are sticking to the plan, so all in all, for a good deal of neglect, my garden is doing just fine.