Malaka's Lengthy History of Gardening

With this being my first real blog, i had not intended for it to be so lengthy. But i realized there is a lot of history to my gardening. :) Perhaps with all of these years, successful or not, under my belt, i can be referred to as a "gardener" and not someone that just plays in the mud!

My earliest and really only childhood recollection of vegetable gardening was when my mom planted pumpkin seeds in a dirt planter along our driveway. I don't know how old i was, but i still remember feeling the rough leaves of the plant and how the long vines sprawled themselves this way and that way. Good stuff and apparently that memory planted a seed in me that keeps on growing like a stubborn weed! Ha-ha! Oh yes... we also had 2 avacado trees that kept the squirrels well feed an eventually became mulch.

I have been gardening from the very beginning. I remembered that i tried to plant a vegetable garden, while living at home with my parents, in a little plot of dried up dirt that I shared with the dog (gross, i know) between an outdoor bathroom and a guest house that served as a storage house. Of course I was pleased with my ability to grow 3 carrots and 2 radishes.

I then tried again to explore my green thumb when we lived in Arizona, the DESERT. I eagerly planted my seeds but more than once lost my gardening battle to 115 degree summers and some dirt burrowing bees. And no, there are no pictures because i don't think anything even ever sprouted. HA!

So when we lived with my brothers I once again found the only dirt worth planting in... a small circle in the middle of their cement patio amoungst some already exisitng lillies. Kienan was just 2 years old which made the whole experience even better for me. The picture shows him planting our first and last crop.

We did manage to grow a few pea pods and again the infamous radishes. But between the dogs trampling thru it on high speed chases and my time being consumed by new baby in the house, Mackenzie, it all shriveled up and that was that.

But i am persistent and when we moved to the apartment i wasn't going to let a 5' x 8' covered balcony stop me from growing a garden. So i purchased the window boxes and the soil and the seeds and the new watering can and hauled up those 3 flights of stairs. I now had 2 cuties to share this with. i wanted kienan and mackenzie to get dirty and be curious and make mud and eat dirt and experience the wonders of a seed. We did plant radishes again so they could witness this miracle, however i invested in flowers this time thinking the balcony would be a perfect home.

We painted our own pots and got really dirty! The day was great! The kids were in it as much as i was. I mean what kid wouldn't enjoy dirt and water?

I was particularly pleased how the red flowers brightened up our mini balcony.

SUCCESS! I had finally created a garden and even better i did it with my kids!!!! Unfortunately, our balcony garden perished quickly from the Santa Clarita afternoon sun of about 100 degrees. UGH!

Sooooooooo, we moved into OUR HOUSE!!! i had garden plans brewing before the house was even finished being built. This was going to be IT! The garden i had always wanted for so many years! Well, of course the first spring, which was last year, was more than crammed packed with life (new home, new company, pregnant, husband traveling for 3 months). But i would not let a dirt backyard stop me! A truck tire would be more than adequate for a pumpkin plant. :) Yes, i went to my dad's yard and my brother loaded up an old tire into the back of my truck. We bought pumpkin seeds, soil, another new watering can and of course, THE WORMS! I had high hopes that when my mother-in-law came to visit in the fall she could hand pick our home grown pumpkins with her grandchildren!

We did good. They carefully planted their seeds.

We saved a family of earthworms from Wal-Mart and examined and played with them. They seemed to really like their new home because our seedlings flourished!

They sprouted and grew and grew and so did our corn and tomatoes!

And, my belly also grew with little Kiera June inside... and the thought of walking hurt, especially alllll the way out into our hot, dry backyard. i just couldn't do it. So, my infrequent waterings eventually killed it all. Fortunately, the tomato plants were alive long enough for the kids to enjoy. I would send them out with a bowl to collect our small crop and it would always come back still empty since the kids would eat the tomatoes right off the plant!

So here i am again excited about Spring. My husband has built me my very own vegetable garden. There is a fence to keep our dogs out and stepping stones for little feet. Kyle even hung a sun in MY GARDEN! IT'S ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!! About 3 weeks ago i rummaged through my packets of seeds and because i had so many i really didn't want to go buy more seeds. I figured even though the packets said 2005 it would be fine. The kids and i planted corn, carrots, onions, peas, peppers, tomatoes, and a cucumber plant. Kienan brought home a sprouted zucchini plant from school that we added. Well, to date only the peas sprouted. They will eventually climb the trellis. My tomatoes and pepper plants are doin' great. The zucchini and cucumber plant already died. :( In the meantime, Kyle installed automatic sprinklers that water twice a day. I am taking the girls to the nursery tomorrow to buy seed packets that read 2008 and we will plant again!

This afternoon i decided to pull some have eaten Gerber daises and plant herbs: spearmint (thought it would be fun for the kids to smell), basil and oregano. We also have a space along the wall where we planted 2 raspberry plants, a blueberry plant, and a grape vine. I am happy to say that the berries are doing fabulous and i'm not sure about the grape vine quite yet. Next to those i just planted some watermelon seeds. Not even 5 minutes later Sasha found the new cleared spot to be a perfect resting place... hmmmm

And finally my SUNFLOWER GARDEN. If you know me, you know I LOVE SUNFLOWERS (my bridesmaids carried sunflowers down the aisle). This is the first year that i have ever planted them. We are keeping track of their measurement by standing Mackenzie next to them. I figure she won't grow as fast as them and she'll be amazed when they end up being taller than her :)

So i'll keep you posted on our Crop Inventory and see what we grow this year. If you come visit we will share!