I just opened a jar of delicious homemade bread and butter pickles (a formal recipe and a separate blog is coming) and, there’s something about “putting up” foods that make me really want to be a good gardener, which I’m NOT. Oh, you don’t believe me?

Here, look at this years “crop”… (and it’s already the middle of August!)

My ENTIRE crop of peppers!

 Oh, forgive me but I spoke too soon!

I just found one lonely green bell pepper...

And…

  Here’s my load of baby carrots (No, I’m not proud of this…)

Can you believe the size of the tops in comparison to the carrots?

 
 
Jon actually did the picking. He, I’m sure, was SO excited when he saw the height and lushness of the tops…
 
Thinking “WOE, we’re going to have a MOTHER load of man-size carrots!”
 
Well, when I saw those teeny-weeny carrots laying in my kitchen, all I could think about was when I was pregnant. Each time I gave birth I weighed a ton (only slightly exaggerating) and, after pushing out the children, each time I would hold them in my arms and think “all this weight for such an itsy-bitsy person?
 
THEN, there are the tomatoes…
 

Yup, this is it, so far.

An embarrassing update…(regarding the above tomato). Jon just read my blog and told me (sheepishly)… “That tomato on your blog isn’t ours.” I said “What??”  He said “I got it at the farmer’s market. I said “but it was sitting next to that pile of embryonic carrots… I thought for sure we at least grew that tomato!” (Actually, I found it pretty hard to believe that I could grow an heirloom tomato, but I thought that maybe it was some kind of poetic justice, considering the sorry shape of everything else).
 
Ok, back to the so-called garden.
 

I think there's an onion in there, somewhere...

At the beginning of the season, we started out fine… we planted tomatoes (as usual) but this year, with all the rain, the plants just disintegrated and we had to remove the entire lot….

This section was originally filled with tomato plants.

And that’s not the only area that’s defunct…

Yet another sorry section...I think we planted zucchini here (have no idea what happened--I thought ANYONE could grow zucchini!)

So, this is all that’s left of my 2009 garden… a lot of bushy carrot tops, a few tomato plants and, of course, that one (albeit a lovely one) green pepper. 

My only hope ...

Ok, so up until this point, I’ve been a lousy vegetable grower. I admit it. And, although I know it’s too late for this year’s garden, it’s never too late to get better at something that’s deemed important. Actually, having a so-so garden never really bothered me before but, this year, after seeing the total demise of a plot of land that I always trusted to at least produce SOMETHING respectable… I’m finally motivated to fix this. And, I think you’ll agree that the only place to go from here is up!
So, as of today (it’s now a public commitment), I am determined (by this time next year) to become good at growing delicious vegetables! And so, for those who actually know what they’re doing, I would truly appreciate any (and all) the advice I can get! (I really get so turned on by being a beginner! So much to learn and then “do”…love it.)
 
First things first, after consulting the Internet, I’ve decided to create a compost…
(Oh, this part should be easy since I create more food-scraps than anybody in the county–make that COUNTRY!). I’ve ordered a compost bin from my local hardware store and it’s scheduled to be delivered this Friday (I’ll show you what it looks like, when it arrives.)
To get ready, everyday this week, I’ve been accumulating coffee grinds, egg shells, CARROT TOPS, potato peels, and any other kind of  food-scrap that’s not animal protein (and no bones)…which attract animals (I already have enough problems with squirrels). 
 
This is how I set up when I’m doing my food prep…

When cooking, I have one bowl out for food-scraps and one bowl for trash.

 As I cook, I just keep adding to the separate bowls…

And I keep dumping the scraps in a big garbage bin (which is now in my kitchen but will SOON be going outside …)

Almost to the top and this is after just three days!!

I keep it closed and I’ve attached sticky tags so no-one mistakenly adds anything inappropriate. I’ve become VERY protective of my baby compost (don’t cross me, here)!

My "inside" compost container...

So, I’m feeling ready (and excited) to begin this new journey. I hope you’ll come along for the ride. And, please, DO share your words of wisdom with me. (Really, I would appreciate it. I need all the help I can get.) Wish me luck!

Next blog…about those pickles!

Tags: advice on creating a great compost, how a lousy gardener becomes a good grower of great vegetables, how to create and maintain a healthy compost, how to finally become a good grower, the journey to becomming a good food grower

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1. My son loves the idea of composting (sp)…He now lives in San Francisco and wants the restaurants here in NYC to do it.

   Comment by kathy — August 17, 2009 @ 9:48 pm

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