MY SORT OF GARDEN...

I can't consider it a real garden -- no digging involved. I'm a bit past the kind of garden work I used to do but still want to grow a few veggies and herbs so I have taken to a simple form of container gardening. I buy bags of the potting soil with the fertilizer already in it, poke drainage holes on one side and cut planting holes on the other.









This year's 'garden' consists of four bags along the fence, one for each tomato plant plus space in front for some lettuce, basil and two cucumbers. I've only harvested some lettuce and a little basil so far, but the plants are growing like weeds with lots of promising blossoms and even a few small tomatoes and cukes.









Oh yeah -- the framework -- that is part of a folding scaffold that was originally bought to use as an elevated platform for my husband to video show jumping from. There is another section in case the plants take off like Jack's beanstalk! I'm using those one piece velcro-like bands that the supermarkets wrap around lettuces and other green leafy veggies to secure the plants to the support of this beautifully sturdy sort of trellis. I've been saving them for ages, sure that they would come in handy someday...














Then there is the 'surprise' garden -- volunteer squash plants in my compost pile. These are so vigorous that I'm wondering where they will stop. There are (I think) only three plants but they have filled the enclosure and seem to be looking for new worlds to conquer...

I wonder if in a couple of months I will be suffering from

SEPTEMBER COMPLAINT

A garden is an iffy thing
As you must surely know --
You plant the seeds and then you hope
That some at least will grow.
I don't know which is worse to bear,
Plants that won't grow for all of your care
Or the ones that don't know when to stop
And provide you with an exuberant crop:
Pole beans in great clusters,
Zucchini of monstrous size,
Tomatoes in such numbers
You won't believe your eyes!
This bounteous yields is lovely
(So much at such a low cost!)
But I'm tired of picking and preserving --
Oh! Where is my friend Jack Frost?