Never go to the Garden Center on an Empty Stomach

We did not get our garden in until the first week of June. That's o.k. though because UT's spring was unusally cold. Paul worked hard on weeding out our back and preparing the soil. He even arranged for a small wall to be built across the back to create a second terrace that would allow for more crops. This increased our planting space to almost 300 sq feet! This was all I could have wished for - this was my "baby gift" from Paul after Henry was born.

Once the space was prepared I headed to the Garden Center and picked up several plants including zucchini, squash, watermelon, orange peppers, yellow peppers, red pepper, pumpkins, fresh herbs, and several types of tomatos. I even got a few bags of seeds hoping to enjoy some fresh corn, beans, beets, and carrots later in the summer. I was so hungry though that I couldn't resist the little tags that read "asian eggplant" and "armenian cucumbers". I have a thing for ethnic food and my mouth watered and stomach growled as I thought of the delicious spicy fried eggplant I use to eat during the six months I lived in China. I also couldn't help but think of my favorite falafel complete with armenian pickles from Mazza. I grabbed a few of these plants and added it to my cart. I thought "what the heck- I do have the space for it, why not experiment".

It was a great week of the big and little working together when we planted our garden. The girls digged in the garden like it was a massive sandbox. The boys talked to their little seeds and plants like babies and watered them faithfully. They even illustrated little plastic signs where their "babies" rested peacefully. We memorized the scripture D&C 6:33 and talked about the great reward we would enjoy for all our hard work. I repeated the scripture over and over to my children as they began to complain about the weeding. The garden was sure to be all I had hoped it to be.

Unfortunately we have some issues with our soil and apparently there are several hungry birds and rodents around. All that has survived is 4 stalks of corn, a few tomato plants, and a handful of pepper plants. But that is not to say that they are thriving - what is thriving though is one watermelon plant, my asian eggplant, and armenian cucumber! How random! I don't know even how to prepare them, I don't know if anyone will like them let alone eat them. Any ideas? Any recipes? Anybody want some? I've got more than I know how to consume.

In the meantime I have plans for a super compost pile that should solve the problem for next year's crop. Im also glad we didn't invest up to $70,000 on our garden as other families have. Besides the money spent on the soil, plants, and retaining wall, I am only reporting a $20 loss on a pair of light up sandals that Peter thought to "plant". I don't suppose they will yield up any reward but I believe the real reward was the time we enjoyed working together as a family.