Bow-chicka-wowwow

There is a whole lot of romanticizing happening in my garden right now.  The ‘birds and the bees’ have got nothing on the cucumbers and tomatoes.  Every morning I walk out to check on the garden and witness nature doing her job.  It’s beautiful, really; bees buzzing in the cucumber and eggplant flowers, wasp larvae slowly and silently killing hornworms, cucumbers stealthily weaving their tendrils around every other vegetable in their way.  Okay, so I’m not so sure how romantic it is for cucumber vines to be strangling tomato plants but I’ll admit that every time I see it that cheezy getting-it-on theme music from the movies runs through my head.
I’m all about the experience of growing my own food right now and making my own mistakes is more valuable to me than anything.  At least I know that I tend to be a rogue gardener, doing a bit of planning and letting the rest just happen.  After all, I have more than a few rogue tomato plants (sprouted from the compost) growing where they shouldn’t be.  I’ve let them go and have gotten quite a few unexpected heirloom grape/pear tomato looking things.  They are delicious.

Vining on an eggplant

Vining across tomatoes

Now, the fact that I’ve admitted to letting my vegetables carry on like this might make some gardeners cringe.  The more seasoned gardeners may say I’ve broken some cardinal rule of gardening.  The thing is, I’m not sure I have and moreover, I’m not sure I care. Learning all the rules (using that word loosely) of gardening is overwhelming and although I’m sure its all on handouts and dog-eared pages somewhere I’m just not at that part of the process yet.  I’m just glad I’ve gotten something (a lot of somethings) to grow this year.  I’ve out-defended the deer and small rodents and grown some food for my family.  And now, judging by how far flung those cucumber vines are, I’ve got to search out some new pickle recipes.

Health and Happiness,

Cerissa

What are some of your garden faux pas?  What ‘rules’ do you break?