Debbie Cousins's Journal, 17 Apr 19

Woohoo congrats! 🙌 Gardening is alot of fun 🏡 

Look forward to pics 

Nothing tastes better than home-grown vegetables and fruit. 

I love gardening. Have only done it on a small scale. Thinking about tomato, cuc, pepper and zucchini in my flower bed this year on the east end. They just make you feel so good when you see them growing and producing. 

I have been weeding the last several days. Plus helping my husband planting the roses to replace those he killed with Roundup trying to kill root shoots from a tree. We usually have several tomato plants but need to stick with cherry varieties otherwise the opossum and racoon eat them. Bet you didn't imagine we have those things (and a coyote) walking through our yard in Los Angeles. Our soil is clay, so things don't grow well. The slugs eat my leaf chicory, that's similar to Arugula. 

When do you have TIME to do all that gardening? I have no idea what I'm doing. I DID look at some picture online and read an article or two about how to grow strawberries in a pot. Tomorrow, we're supposed to have tornado-like winds. Even though my plants havent sprouted yet, I'm afraid the pots might blow right off the deck. I'm considering bringing them all INSIDE during the storm. Is that crazy? I was trying to explain to my little grandson about what was planted in the pots. He said, "Where beans?" I said, "They're little baby beans, and they're sleeping under the dirt. We have to wait for them to wake up." Now, I feel like a "mother" to all these plants. I think I've gone off the deep end! 

This will be my first year at gardening too! It is still frost season in Maryland so have to wait until next month to start. What I learned so far is that I am in growing zone 7a and have familiarized what grows well in that climate. The frost season from my area runs from mid-October to end-April. I am not going to start with seeds - tiny plants in pots. Going to try some tomatoes, a few herbs, peppers, and green beans.  

You literally planted a garden! The quotes threw me a bit 😂 

Our last frost was supposed to be April 14th, according to Farmer's Almanac (which I asked Siri about). I've been going out every day and sunbathing on my front deck with the plants. I play Christian music while I'm out them to encourage them to reach upward, toward God. (Well, really, I play it for my own encouragement, but I hope they like it.) We're supposed to have tornado-like winds tomorrow afternoon or evening (even though it was 84 degrees today), so I'm considering bringing them IN the house so they don't blow away. My husband said we could. The guy who lives with us thinks we're loony!