The Clumsy Pan-Handler: An Attempt at Gardening

Peppers

When I was growing up my mom had gardens. I mean she had beautiful, big gardens. We grew tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, corn, grapes, peppers, onions and so much more. We tried melons and strawberries. These are such good memories for me. My brother and I helped (or thought we were helping I'm not sure if we really were!). We weeded and she'd send us out to pick the fruits of her labor before dinner. She enjoyed gardening so much and I wish I had a yard that was capable of growing such a garden. However, we have true Georgia red clay for dirt and that requires A LOT more work than I am willing to do in order to have a spectacular garden like hers.

So last year I decided I would attempt a (very small) garden. I had six tomato plants, jalapenos and bell peppers. The bell peppers did not do well at all. The tomatoes grew fabulously and put out a lot of tomatoes. However, the dang deer loved my tomatoes! They would get them just before I was ready to pick them. But I'm glad that the deer liked them. That has to serve as some sort of compliment to the gardener, right? The jalapenos were perfect. The deer did not like them and I did- a perfect combination!

This year my garden is even smaller and its on my back deck. This is to try and keep the deer out of my plants. So, I have one tomato plant, one jalapeno and one poblano. In addition I've decided to try and grow some herbs. I planted basil, chives, rosemary, thyme, oregano and cilantro. I planted twice as many as I needed and gave my mother-in-law an herb garden for mother's day. I also planted a Roma tomato and a grape tomato for my mom and a banana pepper for her as well. (She doesn't have a garden of her own any more).

So without further ado- here is my tiny little back deck garden that I love and hope does well: