Gardening Adventure Chapter 4: First Harvest

Back in early May, I received an assignment for a writer’s group that I belong to that invited its members to create and change: “Go create something that is meaningful to you and reflect on the experience.”  So, seven weeks ago, my husband Augustus and I planted our first edible garden.  I did not fully consider the timeline for this project, but I suppose this allows more opportunity for reflection and growth.  And I mean growth literally...

We departed for an annual summer vacation to Lake George, NY at the end of June.  Fortunately, our niece Taylor arrived for a visit around the same time, so she agreed to house-sit for us, water our indoor plants and keep an eye on the garden. Since Augustus had already installed an irrigation system, she wouldn’t need to water it but agreed to text us regular photos.  

I had almost no cell service while I was away, but my niece did send a handful of progress photos.  One of her early texts that did come though showed a red vine that was sprouting out from beneath the mint, and she wondered if it was a weed?  He advised that she wait until we return, and then decide what to do.  This was a good plan because the vine turned out to be new growth from the same mint plant.  Our mint was not the only herb thriving in the garden, we got reports from Taylor that she enjoyed adding fresh basil to several of her pasta dinners while we were away. 

The iPhone has been such an important tool in so many areas of my life, but I had no idea how helpful it would become during this project.  There is a great iPhone app called “PictureThis”, which identifies plants through photographs.  It is a very helpful tool that I use all the time whenever I volunteer at my spiritual center’s Labyrinth and need to identify unwanted weeds.  When we got back, a dozen weeds made their way into our fenced in garden, including:

· Carolina Horsenettle: all parts of this plant are poisonous
· Common Duckweed: usually found in tropical ponds (guess it liked the new sprinkler?)
· Nut Grass: considered one of the most invasive plants in the world
· Tree of Heaven (also known as Tree of Hell): invasive species that often outcompetes native flora
· Dandelion: generally considered a weed, but actually edible and very nutritious
· Asiatic Dayflower: commonly planted in flower beds, so I removed it
· Spiny Sowthistle: very difficult weed to control and should be removed often
· Hairy Crabgrass: known as a weed that can drastically reduce a crop yield
· Goosegrass: considered a serious malignant weed that can invade forests, grasslands, swamps, and apparently edible gardens too
· American Burnweed: emits an unpleasant odor, and is often found growing in burned areas
· Pokeweed: considered a pest species, and its attractive berries & roots are toxic

I snapped photos with my phone and carefully combed through each row to discern what new growth needed to be removed.  How did folks’ figure this out back in the day before these nifty apps?  Wait a second… what is this new one over here?  Near the zucchini?  What!?  Interestingly enough, a potato plant somehow made its way into the garden!  That one is a keeper.

It was thrilling to see what all had sprouted when we got back.  The squash and zucchini both produced leaves as big as my palm, and I learned that they make flowers that are a delicacy when fried in Italy.  In fact, Papa Bruno served us fried zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and sardines for our last evening on vacation, which were delightful.

Those flowers led us to a gardening “birds and the bees” lesson.  Papa Bruno explained that squash and zucchini start out as little knobs, which produce female flowers at their end.  They need to be pollinated by a male bud, which bloom from the stalks and usually fall off by noon or so each day.  These are the edible flowers that he served and must be harvested before they close each day.  He advised that when we do finally pick blooms from our garden, we need to check each one for bees, which can sometimes be unexpectedly trapped inside a closed bloom.

In the next aisle over, the Midnight Snack Cherry tomatoes are growing in small bunches close to the stalk.  They appear a deep eggplant color and I am already fantasying about the salads I will make with them. 

Speaking of salads, I harvested the first lettuce from the garden last night!  I can finally consider myself a gardener!  The crisp, bright green leaves were more than I could have hoped for and have already helped save on groceries.  I pulled the first few springs of lettuce for a birthday dinner party I hosted for my cousin Chase who was visiting from Alabama.  The lettuce came from seeds that Papa Bruno gave us last year.  The same lettuce that is growing in his Lake George garden and each plant there is nearly knee-high, which makes me excited for what’s to come in our own garden!  This salad also included bell pepper, basil and parsley that were all grown in our backyard.  I am so glad I got to share my first harvest with this cousin who has the same childhood memories of Granddaddy and Grandmama’s garden.