No-regrets policy in my garden

I woke up at 5 AM. The Lithium makes sure of that, I always need to run to the bathroom. NOT complaining, just stating a fact. I love my pills. I rolled over in bed and looked at my tomato plant. I have to say, last night the weather was miserable, and that plant looked absolutely smug. "Look at me" I could hear it saying "I'm spoiled and pampered. I get my own light source, window, deluxe 8-inch pot filled with organic potting soil (I got premixed at the store, NOT cheap but worth it), and I know Heather loves me!" (the last part is sing-songy)

I'm always anthropomorphizing (I think I spelled it right), giving human emotions to plants and such, but I have to say, it looks pampered. It rained tonight and today, so no tilling the garden beds (I use hand tools, and it makes a fantastic butt workout). All my garden books agree so I won't do it. I just saw a bluejay fly by. Ron and find it ironic that the prettier birds like bluejays are the most raucous sounding. Something like a Mockingbird (which I love, even when they eat my cherry tomatoes) is just a drab little gray thing. God's got a sense of humor.

Since I can't work in the yard (to me work implies dig up garden beds, because that's what I need to do

The bluejay is back again. Funny. He looked right in the window at me as he sat on the fence just a few feet from my window. I said Hi, he flew off. If I can feed them without setting up a slaughterground for the cats, I'm going to do it. My cats love to hunt. They tend to bring me live birds, generally mockingbirds which can be amazingly stupid. I wouldn't eat bugs out of a lawn if I knew a cat was watching me.

So, I need to work in the garden beds, so that's my "work". In a few months, "work in the garden" will mean bug checks, picking stuff that's ready, and watering, watering, watering. That's how I work.

I really investigated rhubarb. I thought, this is going to be one of those plants I'll always wonder about. "I wish I had grown a rhubarb." With my life, and the fact that I lost my mother, grandmother and nearly my husband several times in 2003. That when my dad went for his treadmill stress test back in 1997 they took him right off the treadmill and put him in the Cardiac ICU (the bypass worked and he's OK now), has given me a great appreciation for life.

See, the night before my husband's accident I went to work with him. We were working 12-16 hours a day, with one day off a week, trying to make the vending and deli business work. We threw thousands of dollars a month into the deli and still ended up in the red. It was awful, and because he was with the Federal Blind Vendors program (I like Dad's moniker - The blind man stand), we couldn't close it without approval. We couldn't get approval. We could either get out of the program and both be unemployed (I had a rocky job history before I began my love affair with Lithium), or suck it up and pray.

We sucked it up and prayed. Ron became very bitter and frustrated. I was down to my last nerve and it was fraying fast. When I was manic I started things like nightly dinner specials, a good food cost and a home-cooked type meal (we just did sandwiches). Spaghetti, chicken noodle soup from scratch, taco night, I did it all on one hot plate, 2 microwaves, and one steam table. Probably illegal, but a big hit. That helped, we actually broke even one month.

So, our marriage was highly strained. We were snapping at each other. He snapped at me over something stupid and I was nearly reduced to tears. "I'm killing myself here and he doesn't appreciate what I'm doing, he always wants more" I thought as I fought back tears. He came back and apologized. I had a choice. I could forgive him, or not.

I wanted to smack him, and I guess he could feel lit. He turned around "Go ahead, hit me a few times in my back, I know I deserve it!" I thumped him a few times, forgave him, and we hugged.

12 hours later someone came and told me he'd been run over by a truck. Boy, was I glad I forgave him. He was comatose for weeks, weeks that would have eaten at me "I didn't forgive him". Boy, was I glad I forgave him. After that, I adopted a "No regrets" policy of basically not leaving anything undone. It's worked great.

How does that apply in my garden? Well, if I don't like something, I won't grow it. Beets for instance. I can't stand the taste of beets. I might grow them if I knew a beet-lover who'd enjoy some good organic beets. I hate radishes but they are good garden "bouncers" - getting rid of the undesirable bugs. Apparently, the bugs hate radishes too. They're really good around squash. I didn't have a lick of trouble with squash bugs until I pulled the radishes I had next to them. When the radishes were gone, the bugs showed up. This year, my no-regrets with radishes: I ordered a mixture of seeds, all good. I also plan to get the purple radishes. I have two radish people, a guy at work, and my uncle. Look out!

I adore marigolds. Last time, for some idiot reason, I only had a half dozen or so in my garden. I plan to have at least a couple dozen this year. I love them, they're cheerful, they make me happy, I like the smell, and they're good "bouncers" too. I've got 9 jiffy pellets allocated for marigolds. I'm partial to Safari and mixtures.

The rhubarb? Well, our hot summers will probably rot it, I've found. If you are a Houston gardener with rhubarb, please let me know how it went, but for now it's a no.

I love growing romaine lettuce. I love the crispness when I'm eating it, and I love a good chopped salad. I plan to grow at least 3-4 varieties. Johnny's selected seeds even has a red romaine, how cool is that? I got some Jericho from another company, but I already mentioned that. Romaine Yes, other lettuce NO. I feel like a freak admitting it. What's wrong with me? Why don't I like leaf lettuce, or butterheads? One reason is the constant watering once it gets above 80. I will coddle a tomato, but I expect the lettuce to be a little less needy. Romaine is pretty undemanding. Other than that, I just prefer Romaine in a salad.

I want to grow New Zealand spinach. I have heard wonderful things about it during the summer. It's easy and undemanding, and I believe is related to the carpetweed family. I like having salads in the summer. Undemanding greens. Sounds like a winner.

I also want to grow some Malabar spinach, it actually grows to 6 feet long. I can grow it on the netting that I've strung between two poles. It performs like the NZ spinach, very productive during the hell days of summer.

From what I've read, the "Georgia" Collards I got (I didn't know it was a 9-pack! AAAAH!) perform equally well all year round, hot or cold, they keep on producing. I want "easy". They have a lot of nutrients and I like quickly steamed greens.

Winner winner. With tomatoes, I went with a balance:
Celebrity is my early tomato. That's the one I'm coddling in the pot. I've grown it before and it did well enough to merit a return.
Stupice, everyone raves about the flavor and it's early, about 2 months. I want a good flavor tomato. The smallish fruits are a plus with me.
Black Krim is very flavorful, a large slicer type.
Evergreen is my wild card. It's green, even when ripe, and an old variety. Now you know as much as I do.
Tropic is resistant to just about every tomato disease. That is my "no matter what" disease-proofer. NO one is talking about an excellent flavor, but if it's a tomato when everything else is dead I'll be happy. It does better in the heat, too.
Peron sprayless is resistant to bugs. I have problems with leaf-footed bugs (HATE THEM!) sucking all the life out of my tomatoes. If I have problems with the leaf-footed-bastards at least I'll have one tomato.
Some kind of cherry. What, I have no idea. I don't want it to crack, and it should have some flavor and like the heat. I'm open to suggestions.

7 tomatoes, that's not even two in each garden bed. That ought to keep me and Ron happy.

I grew white cherry tomatoes in 2005, in large pots. They were so productive, and so bland! Same with the pear tomatoes. I might grow some just for giving away, but I'm pretty indifferent. Black cherry tomatoes were fantastic, until the leaf-footed-bastards got them.

Hey, I've got my Safer Insecticidal soap and I'll be getting a new hand sprayer. One thing I want to get pretty soon is some seaweed spray. That's really good when your plants are a little depressed. It perks them right up.

I'm embarrased to admit I had a lot of trouble with squash my first time around. The first garden bed went great until I pulled up the radishes. I had only gotten about a half dozen (white patty pan) squashes when the bugs got it. AAAAH! The White patty pan squashes were very good and I hate squash. I tried to grow an "Acorn" winter squash (the seed packet was 10 cents, I was manic), even though I don't like winter squash. It was too shaded (I didn't think it would extend over the garden bed, until I went out one morning and saw it). The poor thing sprouted half a dozen puny leaves and died. If I can find a good "summer squash mixture" I might grow one or two (no more) plants. I'd like to have enough to give away, without people hating me.

I'm still toying with the idea of a little bit of corn. Maybe....