I Have a Dream

Ok, so it's not as big as Martin Luther King Junior's dream, but it's big for me. It's this: rows and rows of fresh produce growing in my yard. For several years (ummm, almost 5?) I've picked people's brains, checked out books, searched online...and something always stops me. I think it's mostly fear of the unknown. If you have never done something you don't really know how to "do" it. Head knowledge is not the same as knowing how to do something and doing it right. Right? And then there's the babies that have come with some regularity in our home.
My first foray. I planted my little tomato seeds in cups left over from Haley's first birthday party. I found out the best watering method was to spray them with a spray bottle. So, I got a spray bottle. I dutifully watered those little pink cups til they had some beautiful (albeit delicate) plants growing from them. My own little window sill garden. But then they needed to be transferred to a real garden. But I didn't have one. And so I went on search for tomato cages. Did you know that only when you want to buy some (and need them fairly quickly) you can't? They are not at any local stores? It's true. I promise. So, eventually I gave up and threw away my beautiful little future tomatoes. :( I was so sad. I was looking forward to tomatoes that taste like real tomatoes. Rather than wet cardboard. Blech.
I did do a "stick your toes in the pool" version of gardening. I planted ONE. just ONE. tomato plant. Here was the problem: we had a drought that year (I was pregnant with Nathan also...). So, we watered and watered our one little sun torched tomato plant. And after almost a whole summer of this. One tomato. One. Small. Tomato. Argh. Seriously? I think you need more than one plant to get it to produce. And this is where you see I was right about the difference of knowing something and knowing it. And, I found out that our water has some chlorine in it. Too much. So, if you're using garden hose water you should have a rain bucket type thing (could be a large barrel of some kind) to allow the chlorine to dissipate out of it....but then you would also have mosquitoes. So, we eat wet cardboard flavored red balls. Again. And pay too much for them.
One day I will have a garden though. With lots of good stuff in it. And I will use compost that I've made through worm composting. It's one of THE coolest things EVER! I found it in my searches