While we were building our home, we would often daydream about what we wanted to do with our home and land after we moved in. My husband mentioned wanting chickens and I thought my kids would enjoy raising rabbits as school ag projects. My kids would come up with all sorts of vegetables to plant in the garden. Not that they wanted to eat them but they did want to grow them. We would also like to have a small orchard and of course the boys listed off every type of fruit and nut they could think of. I don’t think they realize we’re a little limited on space availability nor do they appreciate how much work gardening and livestock can be. They already gripe about cleaning the cats’ litterbox daily. Pulling weeds is not exactly high on the list as an entertainment option.
A few years ago, we had a small garden at a previous home. It was maybe 10 feet by 12 feet, not very large at all and I had invested in a Kickstarter opportunity for this thing called a Nourishmat. It was this large fabric mat with a built in irrigation system and plotted out holes for seedballs to be placed with different veggies and herbs. It was an all inclusive investment of the mat plus the seedballs. I thought it was pretty neat with a great concept. When harvesting the root veggies, like the radishes, they didn’t come out of the holes very easily because there were more veggies coming out than space. On the flipside, since it was a mat, weeding was a heck of a lot easier!
Overall, the idea was pretty fun and my then-three-year-old really enjoyed the gardening experience, helping mom and dad find yet another squash hiding in the leaves or tomatoes to roll gently into a bowl. We added more plants around the space beyond the Nourishmat without any grand design scheme in mind. See the plant? Like the plant? Buy the plant and put it somewhere! When we put fencing up to protect the garden from the dog, I thought it would be a great idea to put a tomato plant near the gate. That was not a smart decision. Let me share with you the story about the time that I briefly thought we had urine coming out of the bathroom sink. It relates to the tomatoes, I promise.
We bought one of those tomato plants from Lowe’s that had yellow tomatoes on the photo and I thought, “Eh, we’ll try something new.” (It was a yellow pear heirloom cherry tomato, in case you want to get one of your very own.) That plant is a very HAPPY plant! It grew over 6 feet tall and was VERY prolific. I was giving away cherry tomatoes as often as possible. I would often go home on my lunch break, eat, sit on the back deck and mess around in the garden. Working the soil and with my plants soothes the soul.
During this particular summer afternoon, we had our bathroom remodel finished the day before and I decided to do a little work in the garden. I went over to our behemoth tomato plant and propped it up a little better; I also had to cut off a couple of branches from the gate so the garden was a bit more accessible. When I went to wash my hands and brush my teeth in the bathroom, I noticed bright yellow water in the vanity sink. My first thought was, “Someone peed in the sink!” followed by “Oh, no, the plumbers screwed up the lines! That’s sewer!” (yeah, in my moment of freak out, I was not thinking clearly) I then sniffed it and was like, “Ok, that doesn’t smell like pee. Maybe it’s just the way the light is hitting the water.” So I mopped it up with toilet paper; nope, that was bright yellow. Then it dawned on me… the oils from the tomato plant. D’oh!
Gardening has so many perks… including making me feel like a complete idiot at times. If you have read my earlier garden-related post about the watermelons that weren’t watermelons, you know we dabbled with inadvertent gardening this summer. Next year, though, we’re going to be intentional! Plant all the things! My husband wants to try canning and I’m all about getting the kids outside and doing something. Think I can convince them to go with me in the inlaws’ pastures with a wagon and a shovel to collect cow manure for compost? I jest… sort of. Manure makes great compost.
Stay green, my friends! May your gardening efforts in 2021 be fruitful! And don’t worry. Not all that is yellow is pee.
Going Green In Texas 