I’ve mentioned earlier that since I moved to this great big new apartment this spring, I’ve started experimenting with cultivating vegetables. Thought I might sum up the result of it all.
In April the seeds were sown. Radishes, dill, salad, basil and parsley. Small plants were also bought and re-planted in larger pots. Tomatoes, physalis, red bell peppers, red hot chili peppers (no, not the band), thyme, chives and strawberries. Conscientiously, we watered the plants every day (even when we were away we had a friend taking care of them), giving them nourishment every Sunday, and trying not to drown them. It was a cold summer, but towards mid-june some of the radishes became large enough to eat, along with a little dill. The tomato plants grew over a meter tall, but no tomatoes were yet to be seen. Towards july our strawberry plant yielded a handful of tiny strawberries, and the salad ripened. Only towards the end of August, the tomatoes started becoming red, along with a few chilies. By then the basil and the parsley had also sprouted (though barely).
Now it is October, and most of the tomatoes are still hanging green outside the window. The bell peppers are starting to show hints of red, the physalis are turning yellow, and the chilies are ripening more every day. The leftovers of the salad plants has grown tall beyond recognition, and the last of the dill is struggling to stay alive. Most of the other herbs are doing fine, though. The nights are getting colder, and I do hope the vegetables manage to ripe before the frost takes them. But the days are getting shorter, and the sun doesn’t warm as much anymore. We’ll see. All I can do now is hope, otherwise I’ll have to think up something to cook out of green tomatoes.
So, while our harvest has been in no way abundant, at least we’ve had a little yield of food from all the work we put into it. And it has sure been fun — it is indeed a luxury to be able to go out the back door to the terrace and pick a ripe tomato or a strawberry in the morning. Now we know the basics, and have hopefully learned from any mistakes we made, so the plan is to try again next spring. It is kind of exciting to watch things grow, if you have enough patience. I can have a lot, if in the right mindset. Also, it’s a certain feeling to cultivating your own food. A skill that might come in handy one day.
Love and gardening,
Winterdragon
