Small Simple Things of Life: Harvest

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Harvest

Several weeks ago I posted about our Saturday morning Gardening at the Children's Garden at the Botanical Garden Center. It has been an enjoyable experience even though it is a Saturday morning commitment. The weather has turned very pleasant; this morning it had rained prior to the start time making the ground slightly soft and easy to work.

In early October, about five weeks into the program, we arrived one morning to find that our plot had been cleaned out. It wasn't because of bugs or disease, it was from an honest human mistake. We have several Master Gardeners that work with our group (they are wonderful!) but didn't communicate among each other about who had already put pesticide on what plots. So what happened was that our plot and two others received multiple drenchings with a mild pesticide. I was heartbroken, but the Master Gardeners were so kind that out dismay was soon overcome.

As with just about anything unfortunate there was a silver lining to the little dark cloud. Although we lost two tomato plants laden with fruit, a small plot of green beans, a cucumber, and two cabbage plants we were either able to replant or to plant some other things that the other plots were not able to plant. In addition, they gave us creative license, so to speak, with our plot. All the other plots have to conform and be uniform. Ours does not! As a result, we have planted 2 Swiss chards, 2 areas of sweet peas, 15 additional onions, and two additional cauliflowers. Plus, we have been allowed to harvest from plots where the workers don't show up!

I forgot to make pictures today before we left the garden, but here are some of the things we brought home. We had 2 large bags and 2 small bags overflowing; for the harvest, we give thanks!