Mary Mary quite contrary...

I'm thinking about having another garden this year. I had one three years ago, and in spite of my black thumb I grew zucchini the size of baseball bats. That's no exaggeration, they looked like big green clubs. Mighty tasty too. But that first year was an experiment to see what problems I might have. All was going well... until I found out about squash vine borers and European corn borers. It's amazing how they appeared out of nowhere, on land that had never had a garden before. How did they find it? But this year I know what to prepare for, so hopefully I can head them off at the pass.

I'm not sure exactly what I'll plant this year, but I may include: zucchini, tomatoes, black-eyed peas, green peas, green beans, onions, radishes, watermelons, and Big Max pumpkins.

The first time I had a garden I was about 15, and it was by a fluke. We had an acre of land behind our house where we kept our horses, and I often fed the horses watermelon rinds when I was finished with them. Well, one the seeds nestled itself into the pasture manure and next thing I knew there was a watermelon vine growing with a fruit on it. I tried making a makeshift fence around it but once the horses found the vine that was the end of it. They ate the vine and all. But the next year I went all out and sectioned off an area for a full-fledged garden. It did pretty well too.

I grew the Big Max pumpkins for the first time that year just for fun, and one of them grew to be over 100lbs. It was huge! Then for Halloween I set it out on display at the front of our yard. Unfortunately one of the neighborhood teenage guys came and smashed it... my Dad saw them and ran down the street after them, yelling "THAT WAS MY DAUGHTER'S PUMPKIN THAT SHE GREW! GET BACK HERE!!!" That was the only time I ever saw my Dad run, hahaha. But of course they just scattered.

Anyway, let's hope I can fend off attacks from pesky insects and teens this time.