I have about 40 things that need to be done before I go back to work on Tuesday morning, and it is raining right now. So it is really a perfect time for me to put a dent in these 40 things, but instead I have decided to do some blarking.
My neighbor friends and I have built a community garden. A little background: across the street from my house (photo attached) there are three houses in a row that have consistently been occupied by young couples.
The first young couple to move in was freakishly short - both under 5'2". Their families would come to visit and we found that, as you might expect, the apples didn't fall far from the trees, as the family members were equally short if not shorter than the couple who lived across the street. This couple became known to Jeff Cannon and myself as "The Shorts".
Two houses down from the shorts, another couple moved in. These two are incredibly tall - in fact they make the Adams boys seem average height. The husband is about 6'9" and the wife about 6'1". Naturally, they became known to us as "The Talls".
Lastly, a third couple moved into the house between the Shorts and the Talls. This young, attractive couple have no visible freakish characteristics. Therefore, they came to be known to Jeff Cannon and myself as "The Just Rights".
Today, the Shorts have move to the suburbs where, frankly, they belong. But the Talls and the Just Rights and myself have become friends.
It is a lovely little block and we do nice things for each other. If I go out of town and do not tell them before I leave, I can expect a scolding from either Mrs. Tall or Mrs. Just Right followed by "we were worried about you" when I get home.The Talls entertained some of Mr. Tall's work friends at their home last Saturday night. The next day, upon returning from my Sunday morning run with Mr. and Mrs. Just Right, I found that Mrs. Tall had created a small arrangement of flowers leftover from some she had bought for her prior night's party, and put it on my porch. The Just Rights, having recently discovered the joys and benefits of taking a fish oil supplement, presented me with my own bottle of fish oil capsules.
So, now we've decided to plant a community garden in an empty lot on my side of the block. The Mr's Tall and Just Right built some beds and we've all contributed to the veggies in the garden. We have tomato plants, an eggplant plant, squash, beans, herbs and I just bought some okra plants. We're stealing water from my next door neighbor who makes no other valuable contribution to the 'hood, so we feel justified.
It is too early to harvest anything, but I've included some photos of what promises to be a bountiful crop in a few weeks.
Good work! I'm going to take my new memory stick reader out of the plastic chastity belt they pack that sort of thing in right now and see if I can post one or two of those promised photos myself.
ReplyDelete(I'll admit to a small crisis in confidence here. Everything at your spot looks so neat! not so here!)
Danna - quite an impressive garden spot you have there - the bordered beds, the plants, the little demi-tomato. I also like the water thievery from the worthless neighbor, just so ya'll might let him live.
ReplyDeleteMy own personal garden this year consists of the mint plant that will outlive me, and 4 herb plants I bought last weekend and have yet to plant. But I have been trying to eat up my haul from the Socialist Vegetable Club at Ridgeside Farms. It's been lettuce, chard, watercress, onions, sugar snap peas so far. Is there anyway to fix swiss chard that is worth the effort? The 2 guys that run the Ridgeside Farms also offer fresh eggs each week. I have never had fresh eggs, don't eat that many eggs anyway, but this week, I'll give it a shot. I'm not going to find any feathers or beaks in my eggs, am I?
So far my garden has produced one Cumquat.
ReplyDeleteSo when will dinner be ready.
I've also worried about beaks in fresh eggs but so far haven't found any.
ReplyDeleteSwiss chard question - cook it like spinach, or saute it (cut up) in a tad of olive oil with some garlic. I love the stuff. One of my favorite foods is a pizza brushed with hot pepper garlic oil, baked a bit, then sauteed Swiss chard and goat cheese, piled on top. You have to like the individual ingredients, of course, but if you do, this is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteFresh eggs: I understand that the people who sell them claim that they are unfertilized. I've always wondered though, how the hell they know.