Progress....

It's always amazing to me the volume of food that can be produced in a small space.  I picked lettuce for the fourth time today since planting it in that small brown container.

In case you have forgotten what it looked like in the beginning - it's a little over 2 feet long and in April I planted lettuce, mixed greens and radishes in it and walked away.  No other work involved except an occasional watering.

And shortly after planting it actually started to sprout little plants.  Not particularly exciting but at least a start.

As time went by things looked a little more impressive.  I think this next picture was taken towards the end of May.

And then things really started happening!

The picture right above this is after I did today's picking - as you can see - there is a lot more coming along!

I have picked the greens (the radishes are all picked and eaten) four times now and they are still chugging along - today's crop is going to the local Halfway House because I just can't eat it all!

As usual I have a point - it might be obscure, but it's lurking in here somewhere.  If you have even a small container and some dirt or potting soil along with a bit of water you can personally grow an amazing amount of food.  The rest of the garden is looking scary good - I say scary cause I know that lurking in the bushes could be the woodchuck from hell just waiting for me to take my eyes off the gardens (and the water connection off the water cannon scarecrow) long enough for him/her to wreak havoc in my life.

Today's world is full of contention and angst and politicians (not going there) - in no small way it's reaffirming to be able to say, no matter what's going on "out there" I know what I'm having for supper.  And if it comes to that I know I can feed myself and others.

So far I have picked 2 batches of beet greens, all the lettuce I can eat and then some and by tomorrow I should have enough peas to go with a meal.  The cucumber plants are growing like crazy, zucchini and winter squash doing really well and I think the parsnips are finally sprouting (and no, I didn't dig any of the seeds up to check!).

It's not too late to start a garden this year - or plant a container (it's not wrong to buy a plant that someone else started - you don't have to begin with just seeds).  It might sound like a lot of work and initially it can be a bit labor intensive.  But get things in place, mulch them well and you get more than what you put in back in terms of satisfaction and supper!