My timing as a back yard gardener is not the best. I usually plant too early. I get excited with the coming spring and plant in early March, which is fine for things like greens, onion sets and lettuce. But the rest of the stuff lies in state, like little seed coffins. Then I have to replant and often that’s too late. Still, I enjoy gardening. Watching stuff grow, watching anything sprout and produce is an annual delight.
This spring I was way late getting some of my seeds and plants in the ground. When I was ready to plow and sow things, it was too wet. I finally got my seeds planted but my onions and lettuce did very little and I was far too late planting creasy greens.
However. I was spot on with cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and okra. All four are doing well, especially the okra. Okra does not like cool weather. It’ll sprout, sometimes, then sits there sulking. This year’s okra crop should be one of my best ever, and interestingly, the plants are not growing tall like past Jack-In-The-Beanstalk vines. They are already producing as two foot plants. We had our first picking of okra last week. I chopped the okra into small slices, rolled them in corn meal, salt and pepper and fried it to a crispy brown. There is nothing on God’s earth better than fresh, fried okra.
Maybe next spring I can get my early crops in early, and wait, as I should, to plant the summer vegetables.
But probably not. When the seed catalogues arrive, I’ll likely order and plant immediately. Some folks never learn.