My grandfather was one of those gardeners. He pretty much only grew three things in his huge garden just outside Richmond, Virginia -- lima beans, corn, and tomatoes. (I only liked eating the latter two.) He spent long hours in the heat of the summer tending to his crops. Each Saturday, he would come over to the house to make us a giant southern breakfast with ham, biscuits, eggs and… you guessed it… fresh sliced tomatoes, with just a sprinkling of salt.
That's what summer tastes like to me.
I'm thinking that I got a little of my grandfather in me. I have the "itch" to garden… get my hands dirty… make something grow. Tomatoes are a huge part of it, but unlike my grandfather, I want to grow just about anything that makes my mouth water. Squash, beans, peas, eggplant, melons, strawberries… you get the idea.
When I lived in Nashville, we rented a little house that had the perfect spot for a garden, so I jumped in with both feet. Some things worked… some things didn't, but the climate was so similar to Virginia (where I grew up), I felt very comfortable. I was trying to remember all the things I learned about growing vegetables from my grandfather and my mom.
When I got back to Texas two years ago, I wasn't feeling so comfy. The climate here is so warm and I had heard from so many people that growing tomatoes and other vegetables was really hard. "It takes a lot of work!" they told me.
I believed them.
Instead, I spent the first year concentrating on the landscape around my house… learning everything I could about native and drought resistant plants. I watched most of them thrive in the landscape. I'm embarrassed to admit that some of them even ended up with nicknames as I talked about them with my family or other gardeners. "Eve (the Eve's Necklace tree I planted in the backyard) has tripled in size since January!" I told my mom. "Percy (the persimmon tree) is so heavy with fruit, the branches look like they're about to fall off," I remarked to my husband.
Then I began to get eager… I wanted more. Vegetables. Why not? How cool would it be to just walk outside and gather the veggies you need for dinner?
I started small… a couple of pepper plants here… some herbs there. I started to grow more confident… I wanted more.
And that is how this blog starts, my friends…. I'm about to undertake a huge project -- a fall vegetable garden in Austin, Texas. I ordered the seeds, made the plans, sweet-talked the manual labor (my husband), and it's time to get started.
I don't claim to be a gardening expert by any stretch of the imagination. Sure, I took some Master Gardener classes in Tennessee ( I was even certified in 2004)… but I firmly believe that gardening is all about trial and error. No one knows everything, and even the most experienced and knowledgeable gardener started out knowing very little.
We'll talk about vegetables, landscape plants, containers, pests… anything and everything that grows. I'll tell you all about my triumphs and my failings, and -- hopefully -- you'll learn from my mistakes and be inspired to grow something -- ANYTHING -- in your yard or on your apartment balcony.
Did you know that you can grow tomatoes in a pot? Yep… just more proof that you don't have to know a lot or have a lot to grow something.
And man, there sure is nothing like a homegrown tomato.