A few short weeks ago, I made a trip down to our garden plot with my son. We carried the plants you see here; we had started them from seeds a few weeks earlier. I knew it was pretty ridiculous to plant summer squash and cucumber plants at the beginning of August, but the growing season here is long, and I’m such an optimist about these things. Besides, the seeds hadn’t cost much, and I figure they are a science lesson made real for Miles (my son), even if they don’t produce a darned thing before it turns cold. (Yes, I am aware that according to some people, this part of California never even gets chilly enough to use that word cold, but vegetable plants tend to disagree.)
I mentioned a while back that I had a fixer garden plot. Here’s the story: when we returned to California from Texas, and I walked by the community garden, a few plots appeared neglected. This was in stark contrast to the last time (3 years ago) that I applied for a plot and there was a waiting list. A phone call and visit to the parks and rec department later, and I was the oh-so-proud renter of a plot. Not just any plot, however, because this is me we’re talking about here. I seldom choose the easy route. Out of 4 available plots, I picked the one that needed to be rebuilt. Yup. Rotting out. Falling apart. Calling my name. Volunteer tomato and potato plants crying out for love. You should have heard me. Honnneeeeeyyyy, puhleeezzzeee? The other plots might not get enough winter sun because of the large trees nearby, and this one, well, it’s trying so hard to grow things even without an owner. Will you puhleeeezzzeee help me rebuild it????
So it took a while to get that little project done. And we hadn’t even moved back to California until the first week of June. And so there we were, my son and I, planting little hopeful and incredibly late plants in August. But look how they’ve grown already! My ever optimistic (except when I’m not, and then it’s bad, very, very bad around here) self thinks we might have a squash or two by October!
Not to mention those volunteer tomatoes – look at what I saw peeking out today! Can there be any better thanks for our hard work hauling lumber during that unbelievable hot spell we had earlier this summer?
We took home that red one, as well as about 5 pounds of smaller golden cherry tomatoes, which by tomorrow will be turned into these. I can’t wait. I’ll take pictures. Promise.
