Look, mom, we grew food.
I grew up on a farm.
There were cows and corn fields and all manner of farm implements.
We had a huge garden at our house, and every summer we weeded and picked and processed lots of different kinds of vegetables. This was just normal life, the endless snapping of beans and shelling of peas. I vowed I would never, ever, grow green beans when I was a grown-up.
Turns out, I have never felt compelled to have a garden of my own. The whole idea was intimidating because my memory of ‘having a garden’ was wrapped around this huge expanse of rows of plants that did. not. end. Then I started making this salsa all the time and got annoyed at the price of fresh cilantro and a friend asked me why I didn’t just grow it myself? After all I have a big yard and a few empty flowerbeds and everything is already irrigated.
Hmmm. Hard to argue with that.
So this summer, we planted food. What started as an effort to grow our own salsa expanded to include tomatoes, jalepeno peppers, banana peppers, cantaloupe, honeydew, lettuce, basil, parsley, cilantro, oregano, and mint. No green beans.
The least successful crop on the list was cilantro, of course, because turns out it’s finicky about temperature. But we have a HUGE crop of tomatoes and all the herbs are growing like crazy.
What amazes me more than anything is that all this food grows from little tiny seeds. I know, this is not a new concept. It seems like I’ve always known plants grow from seeds… it’s something every kid learns early in preschool or Sunday School with little seeds in paper cups. Farming was all around me, for goodness sake, and everything was about the seeds and the growing.
But seriously. We planted 7 cantaloupe seeds and now we have 12 miles of vines and 3 actual cantaloupes. That’s amazing!! Isn’t that amazing? Like, who thought of that?
Somebody really smart.
So, I’ve learned stuff this time around and we’ll do it better next year (next year!). We’re eating lots of salsa and I have a plan to conquer the moody cilantro.
But don’t count on any green beans.
I can relate to the wonder of seeing plants and fruits and vegetables grow from tiny seeds. I think about that every spring when the tulips and hyacinths return. All I did was bury something in the ground, so I know it’s not my accomplishment.We stopped growing cilantro because it always bolted before the tomatoes were ripe. I tried growing it in a container in a shaded spot, but that didn’t help. We tried Mexican cilantro (I think that’s what it was called) but the sharp leaves were no fun to work with. I don’t purchase cilantro at the grocery store, either. Instead, I learned to make salsa without it. :)
Fresh Mint? MMmmmmmm….Mojitos. :)