Garden Update: Holy Crap! It’s working!

Much to my surprise, we haven’t killed everything we started growing in our garden.  Between inconsistent care on my part, a puppy and a baby rampaging in the yard, and clay-ey fill soil, I thought for sure our attempt at gardening would end up with a desolate wasteland covered with the brown skeletons of desiccated plant life.  So far the only thing we’ve lost was the Thai Basil, but i was expecting that based on descriptions of its ideal growing conditions.

Since the last update, we’ve added a few things.  I planted 3 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 3 raspberry bushes, 3 varieties of strawberries, and a few rows of mesclun, peas, and wildflowers from seed (the other stuff was all from baby plants either uprooted from my mom’s garden or purchased at the nursery).  All but the wildflowers are growing vigorously–in fact, I’m now starting to wonder if I planted everything too close together.

Oh, and for shits and giggles, I stuck a potato in the ground to see if it would sprout.  Nothing yet, but I’ll keep you posted.

Ultimately, I think our success at this is going to depend on how well everything “fruits.”  Even if most things get eaten by birds and squirrels, as long raspberries, peas, tomatoes and strawberries start to pop up, I’ll consider the whole venture a success.  For next year, i can take precautions and set up some defenses against the beasties.  It’s only a rough idea, but I think it would be best for me to sit in the backyard 24/7 with a shotgun across my knees, ready to shoot down any winged or furred intruders.  If nothing else, it’ll be restful and I’ll get lots of reading done.

We’ve also discovered the newest inhabitants of the area: rats.  Big gray city ones, about 8 inches long not counting the tail.  According to our neighbors who’ve lived next door forever, they come and go and she didn’t seem particularly concerned.  Trenna?  Concerned.  Celsita?  Fascinated.  She sees every new thing as a potential toy or assesses it for its ability to dispense food or fun.  Me?  I’m spinning them as Secret of Nimh-style friendly rats with a sophisticated civilization living somewhere nearby.  Either that or as Splinter-esque ninja rats, likely training a cadre of squirrels to fight off evil republicans.  My dad?  Traps.  My mom? “I’m never going near your house again.”

So opinions vary but for now, the rats are here to stay  Our neighbor assures us they’ll move along.  *shrug*

Here’s some pics of the current growth:

Basil, Thyme and Lavender

Parsley, Oregano, Mint

Unknown (to me) flowers and plants transplanted from my mom's garden

Close up on the flower. Oooo, pretty!

2 Parsleys and Sage

3 tomato plants (right row) and unknown transplants (left row)

2 raspberry bushes (against the fence) and 3 strawberry plants

Rows of mesclun (to the left) and sweet peas (to the right, closest to the fence)