Gardens gardens everywhere...

We have three gardens.  Yes, three.  While this may seem a bit excessive, let me explain.

Last year, we wanted a garden.  We wanted to get our hands dirty, grow our own food, and enjoy life's bounty.  The only problem is, in our city as in our backyard, green space is at a premium.  We are very fortunate to live directly across from a stretch of community gardens.  The name is a bit of a misnomer as many gardens are in fact no longer residents of the community and last year about 1/3 of the "gardens" were "weed gardens."  We tried to get a plot through the correct channels of communication.  We scouted, we looked, and through the process, was told by one of the gardeners that there were some smaller, unmarked plots at the back which were not monitored by the city.  Bingo!  Let "rogue gardening" commence.  So, that was our first plot, seen below in its glory of swiss chard, eggplant, tomatoes and leaves.

But why stop at one?  There was other land not being used last year, so we also usurped what is now garden plot #2.  This year, we have 6 feet+ tall tomato plants growing in them (no joke) and a few well-producing pepper plants that simply look dwarfed in comparison.  

But wait, you might be asking.  Aren't there three?  Fast forward to early May 2010.  We had already started planting in Plots #1 and #2.  But then (enter dramatic music), my husband receives notice he has a letter from the city awaiting his signature at the post office.  While scared it was some sort of tax letter, he nonetheless conquered his fears and was astonished to find out that we had been granted one of the larger plots.  All we had to do was pick it out.  Mid-May 2010--we pick out our plot and begin the clearing/excavation of the weeds.  And here is what it looks like now, a mere 2 months later:

We have tomatoes in front, two sections of peppers, some carrots, cucumbers, yellow summer squash, zucchini, acorn squash, butternut squash, and pumpkin squash just because we thought it might be fun to try.  Oh, and there was a raspberry bush and grapevine already in there.  Jake also did a superb job in building a water collection system using items he found littered on the back hillside.

Questions you may have:

1. Are we gardening organically? As much as we can.  We are trying to only use chemical pesticides when absolutely necessary to save the plant.  Otherwise, we're making homemade stuff, like tomato leaf tea to ward off the aphids, to deal with pests and problems as they arise.

2. Will you get rid of any garden space?  Yes, thank goodness.  This is fun (and frankly, my dear husband does the majority of the work, from seed to finish--only proper to give credit where credit is due), but a lot of work.  We'll be handing over care of Plot #1 to a neighbor at the end of this growing season.

3. Do you like weeding?  Yes.  It's cathartic.