Eight Years

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Eight years. That’s how long it has taken me to have a successful garden in North Carolina. I have tried, to one extent or another, every single year. I’ve had minor success with cucumbers one year and tomatoes another in the past but for every item I’ve managed to grow I’ve had at least three failures. This year I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, zucchini, banana peppers, and bell peppers. EVERYTHING has been successful. DInner every evening for the past few weeks has included fresh, delicious tidbits from my garden. Best of all, the local wildlife has mostly left my produce alone. In the past, I’ve lost most of what little success I had to the local population of deer and rabbits. I haven’t been very consistent at keeping the weeds at bay (I don’t much care for working out in the heat and humidity for very long) but the sunflower in the photo is a weed (perhaps more accurately: a volunteer) that I chose to allow to grow. Over the course of a year, most of the yard close to the house gets a liberal sprinkling of black-oil sunflower seeds as I use them to lure my chickens back from unauthorized visits to our neighbours. Do you plant a garden?