Up until this year my answer to that question has always been, “It doesn’t.” It’s been really sad. Still, I try. This year the children and I started early planting seeds. It was an abysmal failure. We replaced our sad, un-sprouted seeds with seedlings from a local nursery and forged ahead undaunted. I am so glad we did. Yesterday, we enjoyed our first bit of harvest: sliced tomatoes lightly salted with mozzarella and fresh basil. Even such a simple meal tastes fine when picked from your own backyard.
If you’re interested in how our garden really grew, I’ve posted pictures here. We used a raised bed/no dig method of gardening and tried to follow some companion planting guidelines. Our plot measures approximately 4′ x 4′ and holds tomatoes, basil, mint, petunia’s and jalepeno peppers. Sister also grew a potato plant which we have since transplanted to an old garbage can.
Other resources on gardening:
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All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
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Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
