Lettuce, Cabbage and Kale

Greens, greens, nothing but greens: Parsley, peppers, cabbages and  celery, Asparagus and watercress and Fiddleferns and lettuce-! He said, “All right,” But it wasn’t, quite, ‘Cause I caught him in the autumn In my garden one night! He was robbing me, raping me, Rooting through my rutabaga, Raiding my arugula and Ripping up the rampion

At dusk, when I am watering and looking at my garden, I keep hearing this song from Into The Woods running through my head.  I see this not only my garden, but our neighbors, whose gardens are filled with every kind of vegetable you could think of from every continent on the globe.

This year instead of a 20 by 20 plot in the Glen Ellyn Community Garden Plots run by the park district there,  I am splitting a 20 x 30 plot in Wheaton.  This plot is a lot the same, so I get to bring some of my learnings from the last few years, but also has some new characteristics that are going to make this growing season both easier, but in some ways harder.

The garden plot and our combined tools. The Little Tyke does come in handy grabbing water.

I was going to skip this year in the garden, instead concentrating on other areas of my life, but one night I got a text from a friend who had just met a woman at a book club who was looking for a partner in crime for her first foray into community plots.  Although taking on the work of a garden plot is a big commitment, I am of the opinion that when opportunity knocks, you answer. The universe provides opportunities for us in all forms,
 and being open to seeing the signs can bring about unexpected changes in direction.  With that mindset I said “you bet” and here we are.  We gathered our tools, combined what we already had and set out to buy the rest.  
Now Samantha is an experienced gardener having done raised beds, plenty of vegetables and certainly flowers over the years.  Being the organized sort, she had done research and purchased vegetables and equipment based on square footage and what should be placed where.  I, on the other hand, buy too much, am too overzealous and go in for a “go big or go home’ mentality.  We knew we were the perfect pair, however,
 when we both felt incredible pride at having one of the most organized gardens in the group. Good looking structures and a healthy start to all of our plantings. 

What is great about this new plot will be the ease that I will grow tomatoes. The Glen Ellyn plot was high saturated with water where these
 is much better drainage here.

Sweet Pepper plant

Red Onion, my first year growing onion.
Kale Yeah! I planted a few extra after seeing how well they were responding.