Tomatoes

Well, I pulled up my tomato plants today. Sort of sad, but the lovely “Golden October” weather we are having makes up for it. Before my wife and I moved to Kendal, I had been an anti-gardener. Many years ago, my father introduced me to gardening which he loved, but I didn’t. I do remember working in our “Victory Garden” during the war that I was just too young to be in. (Korea caught me though.) But for 40 years we lived in Granville with so many trees that gardens were pretty much ruled out. At least I told myself that. A few Impatiens in the spring was all I tried for. When we moved into Kendal, I gave my son most of my gardening tools. After all, the grounds are taken care of and the lawns are mowed.

Then I discovered I had a nice sunny spot in back of our cottage, where my efforts were not easily seen by fellow residents. So this is my fifth summer of having a garden which I call “Danny’s First Garden.” Mostly this consists of marigolds, zinnias and an experiment each year. Once it was huge sunflowers, then equally huge hollyhocks. And this summer three tomato plants.

They grew great. I have done enough “amending” to provide a pretty good bed;. And, although a bit late, we had great big tomatoes. With luck the little animals that come down from the woods left them alone. After trying tomato frames, I found 6 foot stakes from the lumber yard held them up. I probably could have gotten tomatoes from Granville’s excellent farmer’s market as cheaply, but it would have been no fun. We even took some to dinner a couple of times and shared with table mates.

The basic rule here is that residents have a “yard” literally around their cottages/villas to plant. (I mean a yard as in 3 feet.) Most cottages have been planted of course so it is strictly voluntary. But when I take my walks around the “campus” I see a fascinating variety of flowers, tomatoes and even one cottage with strawberries.