the veggie patch
Every year I’m looking forward to planting the miniature vegetable garden. I know this defies logic, given the amount of space I have available for it, but if I listened to logic I wouldn’t have done it in previous years either.
It features the same plants every year: tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, cucumbers, beans and eggplant. If you are wondering where do I find room for all of the above in twenty square feet, the answer is I don’t. By the time fall comes around the whole shoehorned planting turns into an unmanageable jungle, with foliage spilling over the concrete walkway and monster tomato plants toppling their supports. That being said, right now the little vegetable garden looks prim and proper, its well behaved plants growing neatly in their allotted spots.
Last year I gave up on the yield table after a few weeks of unfavorable weather in August unexpectedly snuffed my gardening enthusiasm, so, in order not to repeat this story, I started this year’s record keeping early and I will stick to it come what may.
Of course now that all the seedlings are planted, tied to their supports and watered, there is nothing to do but wait for a couple of months. If the weather cooperates, they will have an almost two weeks head start, which is a lot as far as plant development goes.
According to forecasts, the rest of spring will be warm, but the summer will be cooler than usual. I read that tomatoes don’t set fruit when temperatures exceed ninety five degrees F, but I haven’t noticed that in my experience. Hot weather suits them just fine, it’s excessive rain they don’t like.
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