My Dad’s Garden

Introducing my garden hero…(and his frogs, he loves frogs)

My dad

Hi there! My name is Darrell and let me tell a little bit about my garden hobby. I am 61 years old and have had a garden everywhere I have lived since I was 9 years old. I guess you could say that I enjoy gardening. I only plant vegetables. I think flowers are pretty, but I can’t eat them. I believe that variety is the spice of life so, I grow a lot of different things that you will see. I am an organic gardener returning to the soil only compost that is natural.

I have a compost pile and replenish my soil twice a year. I have had my current garden for 17 years now. I can reach into my soil and bring up handfuls without the aid of a shovel. I turn my soil with a garden fork. It can be done if you add to the soil what you have depleted. I learned one important thing in my years of gardening that if you are going to eat it, you have to feed it. I am always trying different varieties of vegetables, some grow good here, some do not. I am growing different peppers this spring, some I have only one plant and others several. My garden space is 60 feet long and 6 feet wide.

I grow everything real close since I don’t have all the space that I want. Someday I hope to have a quarter of an acre that I can plant more of everything, For now I am content with what I have. I will list what I have growing in my garden. I plant a winter garden and a summer garden. I let my soil rest in August before I get ready for my fall garden in September. I start my summer garden in the middle of February. If you don’t have tomatoes started by May, you won’t get very many.

I will add more later of my gardening tips , but for now this is just an introduction. My list of things growing in my garden now are:

PEPPERS & CHILIES: Red Hot Cherry, Sweet Purple Bell, Sweet Orange Bell, Habenero, MexiBell, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Sandia, Ancho Pablono, Anaheim R23, New Mexico Chili, Tam Mild Jalapeno, Keystone Giant Bell, Jalapeno. Cayenne.

TOMATOES: Sweet 100, Grape, Mr. Stripey, Husky Red Cherry, LemomBoy, Patio, Heatwave,Celebrity,Yellow Pear, Porter, Sun gold, Brandy wine Green Zebra Sweet Red Cherry.

OTHER MISCELLANEOUS VEGETABLES: Red Swiss Chard, White Swiss Chard, Red Cabbage, Yellow Onion, Green Onion, Garlic, Elephant Garlic, Armenian Cucumber, Rhubarb, Idaho Potatoes, Sweet Yams.

EGGPLANT: Ichiban, White Globe, Listadis De Grandie.

FRUIT: Strawberries, Thompson Green Seedless Grapes.

HERBS: Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Cilantro, French Tarragon, Curly Parsley, Garlic Chive, Peppermint, Marjoram,Sweet Basil, Texas Basil, Lemon Grass, Sweet-Sugar Herb, Pineapple Sage, Regular Sage.

So, as you can see I have a little bit of everything. My garden is always changing. I am already planning my fall garden with new and different varieties. I harvest more of anything my wife Doris and I can eat. We give away a lot our produce to our 9 childern, 27 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. We are blessed in so many ways. Til next time, Farmer Darrell signing off.