The power of time

So after a bunch of digging and sweating we are starting to see a little progress. Everything in the garden is coming up really fast. We have only had to water every couple of days as the rain and sun have been taking turns.

Most of the tomato plants have small tomatoes starting to appear. Now that they have fruit we have to start supporting them. We have twelve tomato cages; for the rest we drove old PVC into the ground. Tomorrow we have to get out and tie the plants to the PVC to support them. We will use the bright pink flagging tape that we had left over from marking trees not to be cut during the logging.

Tomorrow, we are going to pick some mustard greens to eat with dinner. My youngest loves mustard greens with hot vinegar sauce. Yeah, I know its a weird thing for a four-year-old to eat, but when we go to the Pickett House to eat lunch she will eat at least one whole bowl, sometimes two. The kids will be so excited to eat from the garden. Plates are always emptied faster when they know they helped grow what's for dinner.

Luci and I like to garden for different reasons. It appeals to her because of the whole "magic of nature" thing. It appeals to the "cheap bastard" side of me. Like, why would I want to pay 79 cents for a bell pepper when they grow right out the ground. Money doesn't grow on trees, but some of the crap we buy does, so let's get us some of those trees. That is what we are real goal is out here: to grow as much as we can for us to eat. Kinda like a 401k plan, the best time to invest is always now. Even if maybe you could find a better investment choice, the power of time can't be beat. Hopefully, next year we can get more fruit and nut trees planted. This year was figs and raspberries; Luci is talking about cherry and peach trees for next year.

There is a website about homesteading in Houston that I like, just click on this link--they live in the inner city: http://www.orchardchronicles.com/. I get the impression that they are doing the kind of thing we would like to do someday. The idea of having a high-density home orchard is interesting. I don't think we would ever want to make a living from agriculture, just to grow enough to supply us with fresh quality fruits and veggies with leftovers for family, friends and a little barter. The real plus for growing our own is that we know exactly what's going on and into it--we are in control of pesticides, organics, etc. Because face it, the end result is that it goes into the bellies of our daughters.