Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Do I Need a Veggie Garden?

My ancesters - on both my parents' sides - comes from a long line of farmers... which may be why I have this inner compulsion to GROW THINGS!

The past few years, I have been content to grow flowers - perennials - which come up by themselves, brightening my spring, summer, and fall. They are hardy enough for our Canadian climate, so they require very little care - though I do have to separate them and divide them from time to time if they overcrowd plants nearby.

But recently, checking out a gardening blog I enjoy, I began to wonder whether I should start a vegetable garden again, too.

It brought back memories of my own "gardens past"...

When our children were small, we did have a vegetable garden - in part, to show them how veggies grew. It served its purpose: They have fond memories of eating peas and lettuce we had planted. But it never did produce much - too much competition from squirrels and rabbits!

But I do remember picking green beans all summer long one year. (One of my gardening neighbors still reminds me of that amazing year.) But there are other less-fond memories too: corn snapped off (by squirrels) just as the heads were ripening, tomatoes and zucchini with chunks chewed out of them.

At some point - with local veggies sold at farmers markets all summer long - having my own veggie garden didn't seem worth the effort and frustration...

Do I really want to bend down for hours again...?

Maybe I'll just admire other people's veggie gardens - it's a lot less work!

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