Green Acres Is The Place For Me

A suburban myth? Record numbers? Idiocy, I tell you. But I must admit, that I be one of those idiots. 6 tomato plants, consisting of the three of the Burpee Big Boy Better Beefstake Hybrids, one Sweet Million cherry tomato, and two Mr. Stripey heirlooms, only 'cause I like the name. Interspersed are my herbs of choice---cilantro, dill, bouquet dill, thyme, Italian parsley, and basil. And organically, I planted onion sets on the rectangular perimeter to ward off critters of all kinds, as I have decided that I am at one with the environment, or at least I thought I was once in college in 1977. My brother uses a fence, the fool.

You can never tell about basil, of course. Nice plant, good leaves when bought at the nursery, then it craps out on you. Mine looks like a gnome right now. Last year it was on steroids--the dried leaves are still hanging upside-down in the garage. One of the cilantro plants has gone to seed, known as coriander, also known as un-usable. Doing OK with the dill, and lately I've been making smashing salads with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dill & cilantro as the garnish. I feel vigorous, almost ready to take on the FDA.

And although Bankrate.com is known far & wide as the ultimate authority on gardening, I do question the validity of growing crops such as mushrooms, cherries or blackberries in a backyard garden. It might take something a little bit more complicated like...planting a tree? Now you've got an investment incurred, which might cut into the aforementioned 'gardening profit matrix'. But given my black mood lately, I might get excited about a compost bed in my basement for the mushrooms, or at least some toadstools.

Later,

Jay