I'm a forest witch now (small garden successes that made my day)
Friends. Family. Citizens of the world. I have created LIFE! I'm not talking about my children. I did create them, but they're old news (kidding). I'm talking about creating life that has previously eluded me: growing real food in my garden!
When we moved to Snoqualmie from Seattle, I had big plans for becoming a green thumb for the first time in my life. Our move happened during the pandemic, which meant consistent time home, and a cultural refocusing on self-reliance. These shifts were amplified for me by having two small children at home and a new, larger backyard with a built in raised bed. The raised bed I inherited is 52" x 52" - hardly large enough to do much of anything, but I was excited to plant a few seedlings and see what I could do.
BOY, was I successful (and so humble about it). Allow me to explain via the numbered image in the header:
Strawberries! A few of these were somewhat ripened (small berry size, white in color) when they mysteriously disappeared at the tip of the stem. Adorable, fluffy bunnies live in these parts, so I assume it was one of them, and I can't stay mad at a bunny. I considered installing some chicken-wire around the box to protect the plants from further nibbles but procrastination got the better of me, and it turned out to not matter because I finally have a berry ready to harvest!
(and 3!) Tomatoes! I planted a San Marzano tomato plant I got from a local nursery as a Mother's Day gift from my husband and the kids. I typically choose San Marzano tomatoes when I'm buying crushed/canned to make my own red sauce for lasagna or just to have on-hand, so this was my reasoning in choosing this specific type of tomato plant. The plant was maybe 8 inches tall at the time, but it is now a beast of a plant, larger than my daughter, denying all other plants in the box any sunlight or space. The tomatoes are just now ripening (#2 shows my pageant queen, and #3 is tied with a few other bunches as runner-up) and I have maybe 20 or so on the plant.
Some interesting information I learned recently, since I planted my tomatoes a bit late (we had a long, cold Spring and temperatures took a while to get out of the 50's overnight) is that cooler Fall temps shouldn't force you to harvest early - you just need to harvest tomatoes either before daytime temperatures are consistently below 60, or a freeze is coming. Tomatoes can be harvested green and allowed to ripe indoors by either paper-bagging them, or individually wrapping them in newspaper and storing them in a single layer in the pantry. I haven't tried either of these methods, but I'll update here if I do. Another option I'm interested in trying is making my own fried green tomatoes - we'll see!
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Please tell me about your adventures in gardening, if you have some.
