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Hello everyone. I’m new here and have read through a lot of the posts here. Looks like a good place to be.
I live in Phoenix and on March 14 I left there to visit my relatives in South Louisiana pulling a small RV. By the time I arrived here the world had been shut down by the COVID virus and I have spent the spring and summer on the banks of the Mermentau River.
My brother and sister have a large piece of property here and he tilled up a 25X60 ft. garden and turned it over to me. I have spent the time growing vegetables and canning the excess. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, okra, peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon and squash.At this point the garden is mostly finished but for the okra which is now so y’all that I have to bend it over to pick the pods.
With some peaches and some purple hulled peas I have spent the last four months canning about 30 cases of pint and quart jars of fruits and vegetables.
The garden has kept me sane through all this. My spouse of 52 years passed away on February 15 after a 10 year fight with COPD and my thoughts have been diverted by the garden and the memories of my childhood working in my grandfather’s garden. I hope to return to Phoenix in order to put in my winter garden there.
Bud
Replies to "Hello everyone. I’m new here and have read through a lot of the posts here. Looks..."
@oxbeaux Oh, Bud, do you have a picture to post of your garden? That produces quite a picture in my mind, and I am envious to read of such a haul. I don't have much of a green thumb that way. Are you trading with the neighbors for things you don't have?
Good to see you over here, and also in the journaling group. A gardener's journal can really bring back memories of what you did to plant things, and keep it up!
Ginger
@oxbeaux I'm just a little jealous, well maybe a lot jealous, of your prodigious crop, so early in the year. Here in central Oregon, the only thing we've eaten from my garden is asparagus. We could be digging the onions, but they can stay in the ground and grow more for a while. Tomatoes are at the small green stage and crookneck squash is starting to set on the first of the crop. We usually start getting serious produce around the middle of August. But then, I don't want to live in Phoenix, even for the pleasure of a producing garden like yours.
It's good to meet you and welcome you to a great group of people.
Jim
@oxbeaux I'm sorry for your loss, Bud. 52 years is a commendable stretch of time to share life with the person you love. I know what you say about the benefit of being busy digging in the dirt on chronic pain. When my focus is on my yard and all the other things on my summer to do list, the pain in my feet and ankles is moved to the back of my mind.
Jim
@oxbeaux I have found the connect community an informative, supportive community to hang out with...Welcome to the neighborhood.
@oxbeaux First, I am sorry for the loss of your spouse - you are right, digging in the dirt and bringing new life can indeed be therapeutic. I am glad you found a place to do this.
Second, just reading your description makes me TIRED - wow! But think of the lovely food you all have to bring you through this next winter - and it will bring you memories of the lovely summer you spent outdoors and with family.
Let us know how your next garden adventure progresses as you return to Phoenix when the weather cools.
@jimhd We have been harvesting cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh basil for several weeks in Minnesota from our tiny "plot" - 7 straw bales along the sunny side of our garage. We get ripe veggies weeks before those in the ground are ready, due to the warmth of the decomposing bales and the intense sun reflecting off the siding.
My 4 year old grandson loves to pick & eat cherry tomatoes right from the vine, and his taste buds and patience have reached the point this year where he understands "redder is better" and patiently checks for the ripest 3 each time he is given permission to pick (we have to ration him or he eats them until he has a bellyache.) Our resident foster guinea pig (our daughter does rescue & is maxed out on pigs) waits for 4pm every day when I come in from the garden with his sprigs of fresh basil. If I forget, he stands at the kitchen door and hollers at me!
I'm trying for a second row of bales next years so I can plant potatoes in the decomposing ones from this year...but that means building a new "corral" to contain them, extending irrigation (again) and infringing on the clover lawn that the bees love so much. I am not sure I have that much energy...
Happy gardening everyone.
Sue
Hi, @oxbeaux Welcome to Connect.
My condolences on the loss of your spouse. It sounds as if you are doing what you need to do to keep your mind occupied, that's so important.
I am not a gardener at all, but I wish I was. I have a "garden" outside of my screened porch but it's pretty wild. I should do some weeding but not in this heat.
@jimhd I too have daylilies in my "garden". I am not sure of the names of many other things though. A friend put most of it in for me and she came over a month ago and did some weeding for me. It's sort of like her second garden, in my yard.
@sueinmn Your gardening expertise has me green with envy, but unfortunately not with a green thumb. If you were close to me you could grow and I would cook with your harvest.
JK
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@oxbeaux.. You have my utter admiration. You are a fine example of making lemonade when life hands you lemons. What an inspiration! Thank you for sharing. Your grandfather must be watching over you!