Most people think of a garden and what they see in their mind is a big, well organized square of nice neat rows.  Not here, not our garden.  Oh there is a fenced in area, (rabbits not allowed!) but not so neat, with Romanesco broccoli, cabbage, collards, black eyed peas getting ready to climb the fence, and some assorted weeds. The blessings of the good earth bring forth food, if you know how to let it work.

But the other areas are scattered around my side lot and patio, and we have given the areas names. This is not square foot gardening, it’s square inch gardening, lol, cos I always grew stuff in tight spaces and now my daughter in law, my co-gardener, joins right in.

We have Tomato Row, with beefsteak, Romas, yellow plums and blue indigo berry (purple) ones, all with blossoms on and most have a couple little tomatoes.  My tomatoes have always grown about 6′ high, so there is a jerry rig of trellises and bamboo, and about a hundred yards of garden wire (maybe slightly exaggerated) built in Tomato Row to have everybody get a little help from their friends, and even in summer thunderstorms, nobody falls down.

Then there’s Brussels Lane, which has cucumber plants behind it growing up on plastic mesh, and Tomato Row’s structure helping to hold the mesh up.

Pepper Patio has green and purple jalapenos, purple and green bell peppers, and chilies in pots, along with some cilantro and basil too.

Then there’s the 30 year old cherry tree that is now covered with cherries.  At first this year we had to fight the starlings as just a few came ripe.  Now cherries are everywhere and the cherries are ahead of the birds, and we have cherries to share.

Then there’s the trellis that two engineers built out of bamboo.  https://sarasinart.net/2015/04/19/so-two-engineers-built-a-trellis/  The Lima beans are climbing about a foot up the poles of that, so more about that later when the beans get going better.

I love my garden.  That Swiss chard and onions up there will go with a piece  fish for supper, covered with fresh dill, from the end of Brussels Lane.  We have a lot of fun with our garden, and eat the results.  I always like to add my soapbox to any garden blog and talk about raising food that’s truly natural:  heirloom seeds, dried aged horse manure as fertilizer, plenty of water and lots of TLC getting things started.

Grow on, if you’re able to grow things yourself. A garden can be a couple tomatoes and peppers in pots on a patio, and it all tastes better if you grew it yourself.