Gardening Time

I am thinking about great vegetables. Right now in central Florida pickings are slim. Our vegetables come from California and Peru. This pains me.

There is nothing in our garden right now except for basil. The tomato horn worms decimated the peppers and the egg plants that were holdovers from spring. I sprayed them with thuricide. After the armadillo wars in the spring, (they won!) Andy built a raised salad bed that has now been planted with many lettuce varieties, spinach, chard, and kale. He planted a Japanese tomato ring. Soon, the small broccoli plants and collards will be for sale in the farmer's feed store. I will put in several rows of beans, hoping that the armadillos will not uproot them. Vegetables here are still all potential.

I am Lucy with the football. Always hoping for the best, I plant many things, imagining as I drop in the seeds, a great meal from all my fantasies. I have learned through hard experience that those wonderful heirloom tomatoes will not flourish in our short day and extremely hot climate. I have learned that English peas will not produce much, and I have learned that gardening in this semi-tropical climate is a wonderful challenge. I keep trying new things.

My sister-in-law, Nancy tells me that in her area of north Connecticut, the farm stands are overflowing with corn, tomatoes, and everything one could imagine vegetable-wise. Sigh..

So here we plant the fall garden, knowing full well that terrible storms or hurricanes not yet named could ruin everything. And I will always replant, and I will always be rewarded, maybe with something unexpected like a bumper crop of cucumbers or peppers, luffa gourds or carrots.

Our time of triumph is around Thanksgiving when the rest of the country is hunkering down to the beginning of sere winter. We have a bountiful harvest: huge turnips, amazing salad, tomatoes (not heirlooms) to knock your socks off, and the prospect of many lettuces to come.

The photo above is a very large painting I made for Gina's kitchen. She loves vegetables as much as I do. But I grow them and she cooks them!