The joys of rediscovering gardening.

My Old Kentucky Garden

It’s been years (40?) since I had my last full-fledged garden. In my early 20s I grew zucchini, corn and lettuce in my backyard in Southern California and generally lost more to the gophers than I was able to harvest. Of course today its foolish to even think about gardening in California since there isn’t enough water to keep the veggies alive, much less oranges, avocados, almonds and all the other marvelous produce California was known for.

Last year however, I retired from my California life and relocated to Kentucky where water isn’t an issue except anticipating the next thunderstorm and torrential rain. (I love storms and rain so this is about as close to paradise that I can be.) It is rare that I must worry about when to water as the rain seems to show up almost weekly.

When I moved into my “new” 85 year old home I immediately noticed the many small garden plots in the neighborhood. My neighbors produce looked amazing! After researching the area I found that almost anything will grow here—and it does! I established two raised beds to see how they would do and planted three kinds of bell peppers, two types of tomato, green beans, lettuce, leeks, crooked necked and straight necked squash and red cabbage. Unfortunately I lost the cabbage to cabbage worms so took them out and planted wild flowers instead. I was amazed at the abundant harvest of squash and green beans. They taste so much better than that bought in the store. I have since put in a third raised bed and planted broccoli, kale, spinach and lettuce all of which have recently sprouted. As my green bean harvest came to an end I have replaced those plants with more kale, lettuce and broccoli as winter crops. I also have six potato plants doing well in two containers and two sugar baby watermelons growing nicely nearby.

So far the insects and I seem to tolerate each other although I do use a home-made insecticide if they get out of hand. A gallon of water mixed with natural Castile soap, red pepper powder and apple vinegar is harmless to plants and other creatures but certainly drives the insect pests away.

In an effort to grow an indigenous “Kentucky” plant I obtained a few tobacco seeds and now have seven tobacco sprouts sticking their green leaves skyward. Being well aware of the hazards of tobacco mine will be purely ornamental and I hope to see the six foot tall plants in full flower on my porch one day. I understand that the fragrance at night is very nice and the broad-leafed plant with white flowers at the crown will be a nice visual treat as well.

If you haven’t ever tried a garden you don’t know what you are missing. While it is work it is enjoyable work with many nutritious and tasty rewards along the way. I am hopeful that next years harvest will be more bountiful so that I can share what I grow with the local food bank. I plan to add corn and rhubarb to the mix as well as Brussel sprouts and perhaps try cabbage again. I find it is truly a thrill to plant little seeds into the earth and see them sprout in 3-4 days and grow into the wonderful productive and attractive plants that they are. As food prices climb and will continue to rise due to the devastating drought in the West, gardening is a very wise use of ones time adding not only nutrients to the soil and oxygen to the atmosphere but also a way to achieve food security for everyone. Hopefully my neighbors will excuse my early morning walks in my garden as I talk to the plants and encourage them to "Grow! Grow!"