How many of you here, by a show of hands, are gardeners? In addition to flowers and such, do you grow your own vegetables and fruits? Isn’t it magical? You put a seed or a seedling in the ground and give it a bit of love and attention and voila! you’ve got good food for the next three seasons!

We’re just mad about our flowers. The Knockout Roses particularly make us smile all summer long. We just put out five more of them. The gardenias, hibiscus, dahlias, hydrangeas, and all the others make our little kingdom prettier and give us joy. But, this article isn’t about them.

However, nothing makes me smile like coming into the kitchen with a basket-full of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, peas, and such. Somehow, the fruit from the kitchen garden has an explosion of taste that “store-bought” vegetables seem to lack. It’s good to know that when we sit down to eat our vegetables, they were just in the ground or on the plant just a few hours ago.

As you can see in the picture below, I’m trying a new (to me) technique for keeping the tomatoes upright. The classic tomato cages might be alright for a single specimen, in a pot, but they haven’t worked well for me in the garden. This technique is called Florida Weaving. Check out MIGardener on YouTube and he’ll show you all about how to do the Florida Weave. He’s my go-to for gardening advice.

I’ve just realized that when we put out the peppers, we neglected to put out the banana peppers I like so much. I use them to make my world famous (yes, world) “Aunt Nobie’s Stuffed Peppers”. I pickle them after I stuff them with sauerkraut and put them in jars for winter enjoyment. I reckon I’ll be off to the nursery as soon as I post this article. Thanks to all of you for making me remember that! These are jalapenos and poblanos in the picture below. They’re thriving quite nicely, aren’t they?

The radishes didn’t germinate very well. I’ll be replanting them quite soon. I do like the sharp, spicy taste of a nice cold radish. And, it’s an excellent side with nearly everything! They also make a nice addition to a garden salad.

We’ve got two kinds of peas growing here. One is a snow pea and the other one is a round, green pea. Bless me, I can’t remember his name. Name, or no name, they’ll taste mighty good later this year!

Additionally, we’ve got grapes, peaches, pears, apples, blueberries, blackberries, and figs scattered round about the kingdom. The apples and pears aren’t quite ready to fruit, and neither is the fig. But the peaches! Oh my, the peaches are abundant this year!

I sure hope you’ve enjoyed this abbreviated tour of our gardens. There’s lots more, but I’ll save all that for another time.

Do you have any gardening secrets that help your fruits and veggies flourish? Any that you’d like to share with me? Let’s talk about them!

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Now, let’s talk about New Yesterdays. I want to get it in your hands as soon as possible. You shouldn’t be left out of the story! Shoot me an email (theolbigjim@gmail.com) and I’ll make sure your copy is in your hands soonest possible. I’ll even sign it and tuck in a wee bookmark. Of course, you can also go to Amazon and get a copy. It’ll cost you USD $5ish over there. I’ll give you a $2 discount and pay for the shipping. How’s that for a deal? This is for a limited time. Offer expires 31 May.

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I thank y’all for coming around today. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you have, come back again and tell your friends and neighbors about me. Y’all come back real soon; okay?

Copyright: Jim L Wright 2021. All rights reserved.