I’ve been gardening!

This year I decided to start a garden in my back yard to deal with some existential anxiety. I find that being outdoors in the green, even in the searing Texas heat (which often turns things brown), is necessary for feeling my personal best so I found a way to get outside on a daily basis and still feel productive. I built a basically-free trellis out of an unused clothesline and some twine and sticks and got started sprouting beans and peas from a bag of 16-bean-soup I had in my kitchen. I had seen someone talk about it on Instagram and I decided on the spur of the moment to do it myself. I sprouted them using the paper towel method - just some beans sandwiched inside of a damp paper towel and stowed in a plastic bag for a couple days until they sent out a tap root. At that point, I stuck them in the ground and hoped that something would happen. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, this is my first year gardening though I’ve spent years gaining knowledge about how to make things grow for my houseplants, and I thought it was possible nothing would actually produce food.

I’m happy to say I was wrong about that! Almost all of the beans and peas I planted sprouted and are now filling up my trellis and are covered in beans and flowers. The only ones that didn’t make it were some lima beans - I personally don’t like them but my boyfriend does so I was going to grow them for him but I think they felt my contempt and horror when I put them in the ground because zero of them sprouted past the taproot stage. Oh well! I put cucumbers in that spot instead and they’re going absolutely crazy. I also decided to do summer squash, sugar pie pumpkins, zucchini, watermelon, and herbs… though the herbs aren’t doing well and so far no female blossoms on the squash or zucchini so I think they’re getting too much sun? There are watermelons and pumpkins growing, though, and I am so excited for those!