Sunday, August 01, 2010

Mushroom Mama's Garden Exploits

Those of you who know me well know that I've lately been pushing hard for moving the clan to a piece of land we can call our own. My goal is self-sufficiency, or as near to it as we can get considering Dad and I will probably have to 'keep our day jobs' so to speak. Yes, I've gone hippy. I suppose it was bound to happen, considering the college I attended all those years ago (10 year reunion this year... like that doesn't make me feel old) I want to move to the country, plant a big garden, raise chickens, goats, pigs, and a cow.... and more importantly to me, I want to teach my children that food does not come from boxes and cans in large, air-conditioned buildings.

Well... we all have goals of some sort.

To hone my skills (and possibly as part of the whole 'nesting' instinct), I made Daddy mushroom build me a lovely raised-bed garden in our suburban backyard. I planted, a little late in the season perhaps but this climate is forgiving about that, seeds of several varieties: tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, sweet peppers, carrots, and onion bulbs. I also started a container garden for my herbs. I love basil, I always have good luck with it, and I thought I'd try some dill, oregano, chives, cilantro... the biggies in the kitchen around here.

I can't say I've had a rousing success. My dreams of country-life independence have taken a hit. Many of my seeds didn't germinate at all. My onions are all laying, scraggly and sad, in-between some tiny, essentially non-progressing carrot shoots. My tomatoes are green and lush and taking over the world... with absolutely no flowers, which means no delicious tomatoes. One tiny pepper plant has appeared after 2 months, and has gained a whopping 0.5 inches in height in the month since it appeared.

The only things that kept me going was the exciting and impressive growth of my squash and cucumber plants - sprawling, green, and beautiful, these guys looked like they were poised to give me the bumper crop I'd dreamed of when visions of chickens and cows went dancing across my eyes.

Until yesterday.

That's when I went out to my little backyard haven to discover that some nasty, greedy little insect had decided that my squash plants would be a great place to make a dynasty and lay 2 million, tiny, sticky eggs that would hatch overnight, turning into 2 million little ravenous baby insects that would then feast on my beautiful squash leaves. Now I am the not-so-proud momma of so many sad, wilted squash leaves and vines that will sadly never produce a squash.

I'm on the offensive now. I have two plants left that I may be able to save, and I am determined to keep the horrible little blighters off my cucumbers. I spent thirty minutes last night squishing bugs and removing eggs, and I'm planning a renewed attack today. I will not go down without a fight! Beware buggies, you've picked the wrong gardener to mess with!

Perhaps I should wait on getting the cow...

P.S. My basil is beautiful. Awaiting my first pesto.