I know, I know, they don’t look like much. But they’re nearly the last of the green beans grown fresh in a blue container just outside my door. There have been bigger harvests, which I was much too busy enjoying to remember to photograph. There’s not many there, but they will add a little crunch to tonight’s chicken salad. Yum.
I’ve been eating fresh salad from my garden for several weeks now. Mostly rocket, because that’s what grew most prolifically, but a few other salad greens also survived the spate of odd weather we’ve had.
Chatting with my sister a few days ago, I told her I was eating a salad of rocket from my garden for lunch.
Her: I love that you have a garden that grows stuff! One day I’m gonna too
Me: gardens, you know, do usually grow stuff…
She thinks she has a black thumb; I say there’s no such thing. I have little skill or knowledge of gardening either, but I do love watching things grow. And while most of my vegetables don’t make it anywhere near maturity (some don’t even sprout) what does is worth it. There’s a lot of rules people have made about gardening–when to plant what and how often to fertilize and much more–and I forget most of it. Or I’m too busy to do it properly.
But I say who cares. Seeds want to grow. Throw some in the earth come springtime, water them if you remember to, pull weeds when you have time. Some won’t sprout, others die–and some will produce glorious bowl after bowl of salad. It’s fun, it’s delicious; don’t be put off because you’re not doing it “right.”
It’s not rocket science…
Bounty from the garden
The peas came up days ago, and are now lush and lovely looking. And finally, today, I spotted the tiniest seedlings of what I hope is lettuce. Of course germination times vary from one vegetable to another, but it also got me wondering if the peas sprouted so early because they’re local, fresher seeds that I dried myself here, rather than the others which were from commercial seed packets that I’d purchased years ago while in the US and England. I’ll have to research that. But something simple, local and Nepali working better is an idea that makes me happy. A potato has also sprouted, and in the back of the house by the two avocado seedlings, I just planted basil, round zucchini, green beans, and a few other vegetables that I can’t remember at the moment. I’ve also begun planting out bits of mint from my pot in a border back there that’s too thin to grow much in. It’s so tiny that only weeds flourish there. Mint has the honour of being able to grow like a weed, and also, you can never have too much mint.
A few days ago I dug into the garden. I’d just got home and went out there and started pulling weeds and turning soil. I think I’ve been subconsciously putting it off because it hasn’t worked out so well for me in the past. I’ve always rented here in Nepal, and I’ve often had to move abruptly and unexpectedly. Sometimes it was my choice, of course, but often it wasn’t; a true example: “I have just bought this house from the owner. Can you be out in a week?”
So even though I love planting and watching things grow, it’s hard to commit when I don’t know how long I’ll be living in this house. And I remember how I felt when I saw the new tenants of a place rip up the avocado sapling I’d planted. Of course my many pots of flowers, herbs, and small trees always come with me when when I move, but I haven’t had much success growing vegetables in containers, and I want to grow more of what I eat.
I’ve come to love this little pink house, and I hope to be here for a long while. Last year I planted out two small avocado trees in the back patch that I’d grown from seed, and it’s time now to get serious with vegetables.
Two lettuces and some garlic survived from a half-hearted attempt a few months ago, and I think they were happy to be free of their weed-bed. For starters this time around, I planted a bunch of mixed salad greens, and two different kinds of peas and some sprouting potatoes. The salad was from a packet, but the peas were local varieties that I’d saved and dried. The potatoes; tiny ones that I’d ignored while cooking and which had begun sprouting all by themselves in their bowl on the dining table.
There’s more to come; I’ve determined not to let worry and uncertainty stop me from leading the life I want. If and when I should have to move, I will have enjoyed this time in my lovely pink house to the full.