At the end of a season, one is able to look back at it all and gain perspective, perhaps some insight, an objective position. It was not the ideal summer for me to start a garden. I moved to three different houses over the course of the growing season trying to start a garden at each one. Then again, is there ever a perfect time? Is there such thing as a perfect spot? I don’t think so. You have to put aside time to make it happen and try to do it wherever life finds you. The garden project is one of the many key components to the larger question of sustainability and finding a way to live a sustainable life style. This transition to a less dependent and more resilient lifestyle is so crucial for humanities very survival; the argument is there to start a garden somewhere, anywhere.

I came across this bathtub with nothing in it, so i planted Peas, cilantro, and chives

Over the course of the summer, there are three fundamental points that I have observed. The first thing I learned was to plant early and plant often. It distributes your yield over a larger period and spreads risk of any intense weather or unforeseen happenings. Next, sprouting seeds indoors that are destined for the great outdoors never really worked for me. The vegetables were always shocked by the change so unless you have a hardy root like carrots and radish, or it is going into a green house, don’t waste your time. One would be better off using that time to till and prepare the soil for the upcoming season so that when the time does come to plant, your crop will grow rapidly. Finally, a garden does not need a lot of attention but it does need small amounts of attention often. If you can spend just five minutes every day in your garden, the success will be far greater than spending a whole day once every two weeks.

These peas plants produced around 200 pea pods. Tasty right off the vine.

All in all, it was a great success through my eyes. There are two homes that I no longer consider my own that are benefiting from seeds I sowed early on. Their need for commercial products has been reduced. Only small steps, but steps none the less. I found out that radish is incredibly easy to grow and that carrots can indeed grow to just the size of a thumbnail.  Peas are a new favorite food and there can be such as a thing as having too much cilantro. It is a learning process and a fun and rewarding one at that. Vegetables have never tasted fresher than when you sow them, watch them grow, and pick them fresh. Although it was a small beginning, a beginning none the less and perhaps one of the greatest side products of my efforts was seen in others around me taking to the soil and joining in. I will write more about that later. That is enough said regarding the growing project for this summer, until next spring.