Garden Fever

According to the calendar, yesterday was the first day of spring. The black clouds and pouring rain would argue with that. It just stands to remind me that it's really early yet. The sunny days of last week had me all ready to get the garden going. I should know better, from experience. The last frost date in our climate zone is mid-April. Unless you have a greenhouse or other plastic cover, the tender plants will get nipped.

Last year I helped my grandkids plant their first garden. Their new home came with two 1'x1'x6' planter boxes. They were empty, clean and ready for use. They were also in back of the house on the fenced in patio. Being fresh from the deer wars on Orcas, and having seen actual deer in the front yard, this seemed to be a bonus. What I didn't take into account was that the large oak trees lining the driveway would grow leaves. Jordan, 6 1/2 at the time, and Connor, 3, chose the crop. They requested a salad garden: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. No problem. I explained about having to wait for things to grow and ripen. They were both very excited to get things planted. A field trip to Home Depot bought us the "three s's": seeds, starts and steer manure.

Under supervision, Jordan and Connor helped place the Early Girl and Sweet Million tomato plants into one box. The space in between held the carrots. Hard for small fingers to control, the seed packet  was mostly dumped and then spread around. Pretty much the same for the butter lettuce and Romaine. Oh, well, I thought. We can always thin. A lovely Marketmore cuke nestled in the corner next to the greens. A couple of wire cages over the tomatoes and we were done. Nothing left to do now but water and wait.

 Jordan lost interest first. Connor hung in there with me, faithfully following with his little orange watering can, being the first to notice the little green sprouts of carrot. Jordan got back on board when she saw the first tiny green tomato. After that it was a daily ritual, to check for ripeness. But I'm getting way ahead of myself.

We planted in late March, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. The plants we purchased were large, gallon pot size. Those should be tough enough to withstand a bit of cold, right? Nope. The tomatoes did all right, but the cucumber succumbed to frost bite rather quickly. I'd also forgotten about slugs. The unprotected lettuce was eaten as quickly as it grew. Not wanting to disappoint the children, I replaced the cuke with a zucchini plant, since the nursery was out of cucumbers. The plant flourished, but produced no fruit.

Both tomato plants produced large quantities of lovely green globes, but even in the lovely, sunny, rain-free days of last summer they were very slow to ripen. Those pesky leaves were blocking the sun for most of the day. Even so, the kids were thrilled to eat sweet cherry tomatoes warm from the bush, even if there were only two at a time. The carrots were sweet and tender, but no larger around than a pencil, and about an inch long at best. The lack of proper thinning was to blame. Connor in particular didn't care. It was all about the pickin' for him.

This winter, I noticed that the front flower bed has nothing in it, aside from some daffodil and tulip bulbs. With southern exposure, there is full sunlight about ten hours a day. So, the plan is to put the sun-loving crops, tomatoes, cucumbers and maybe a zucchini out there. The empty space around the rose bush can hold herbs. All I have to do is be patient enough to wait out the cold. That, and invest in some slug deterrent.

CAESAR SALAD
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, depending on strength
1 large, fresh egg
1 tbsp. anchovy paste
1 small lemon, juiced
Extra virgin olive oil

Croutons
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Romaine lettuce

Peel garlic and place in food chopper or blender. Add egg. Add anchovy paste and lemon juice.  Blend until smooth. Pour in olive oil to double the quantity. (About 1/2 cup) Blend again. Toss with lettuce. Top with parmesan cheese and croutons. Serve immediately in a chilled bowl.