Part 2:

The New Jersey Victory
vs.
The California Pipsqueak

I received a great e-mail from my pal Carolyn Bates in Los Angeles, California, regarding her own vegetable garden, a "pipsqueak garden" as she call it. She writes:

"We had a big vegetable garden at our old house, but we planted from seed packets and ended up with loads of 10 pound zucchini, and gigantic carrots, generally too much food unless you were going to freeze and can.

We like to cook and we love fresh herbs and tomatoes.   I missed our vegetable garden but wanted something manageable so (Carolyn's husband) Nick built the 4 foot square raised garden bed, using four 9 inch by 4 foot planks secured with eight angle iron brackets. We think the materials cost was in the range of $60, not including the plants & soil.

Our tomato crop last year had some pest damage so I read online about companion planting to minimize insects.   Supposedly, garlic and chives discourage aphids & spider mites, and marigolds deter squash bugs, tomato hornworms, thrips & white flies, and repel nematodes.   So far, our plants are thriving, and we're happy with our pipsqueak victory garden.   It's easily maintained and it's right outside our kitchen door."

My first impression on seeing Carolyn's photos was that her plants were much further along in growth than mine.

Climate!

While it's still sweatshirt weather in New Jersey, in sunny LA, it's been up to 95 degrees (35C). Those warm, sunny skies have Carolyn's plants at least a month ahead of mine.

Carolyn brought up a very good topic with companion planting. My dad swears by marigolds for keeping bugs from eating the tomatoes (Which reminds me, I need to plant my marigold seeds). In Autumn, after the marigolds die and dry up, I pull off some of the remaining seed pods to save for the following spring, storing them in a lunch bag (beware of zip lock bags, I've had seeds rot in them). I do this with basil and sunflowers as well. I'm that cheap.

During the third week of April, I stopped at Home Depot with my dad to pick up some plants. Why Home Depot? It was conveniently next to the market I'd taken Dad. I was reminded of why I prefer a nursery - the employees at Depot are just SO DAMNED STUPID! On the evolutionary chart, there's Homo-erectus, Homo-Depot, then Homo-sapien.

I got a cart and Dad picked out some tomato plants. He wanted Supersonics, which they didn't have, so he settled on Better Boy. If the name is any indication, this is a major step down. If they were horses, which would you bet on? A Supersonic tomato is space age! It can break the sound barrier! Better Boy? That's like getting Chuck Yeager's brother Roy to speak at your rocket club.

So we got some Roy Tomatoes. I got some Roma tomatoes for my wife Donna, who makes sauce from them and the basil I've yet to plant. I got a couple of cherry tomatoes, as well as some bell peppers. As I said in last month's article, it is best to know what you want before going to the store to buy, so you don't go wild buying more than you need. We knew what we wanted, but still, I bought some Cayenne chilies and sweet peppers on impulse. Living on the edge, dude.

April is transitional month in New Jersey, where the temperatures rise higher and don't drop as low as the month goes by. Still, its too cool to plant much of my crop. I've tried to rush this in the past and regretted it. What happens? Dead plants, wasted money, and starting over again, falling weeks behind. So be patient. I'm fortunate that Dad's porch is glassed in during the winter, providing a good greenhouse. He also has a plant light that we leave on to nudge along our seedlings.

Seedlings!

I've got six flats coming up from seed, with cucumbers, squash, zucchini, hollihocks (inedible, but they sure are tall), and lima beans. By mid-May, I'll plant these in the garden.

And in the garden, last month's plantings are taking care of themselves. One advantage of the cool weather is that the weeds don't like it much. I've only been out to hoe once all month. This will soon become a weekly chore.

Carolyn brought up another good point - proximity. Having your garden close to the kitchen is REALLY handy, if you can do it. In my case, its convenient, but not THAT convenient. Our garden is in Dad's yard across the street. Donna suggested last year that we plant our herbs in our own yard, so she could quickly get some while cooking. I had some extra lanscaping rails and put together a 16 X 8 foot raised herb garden. The biggest expense here would have been the dirt, as top soil is not cheap, but one of our small town connections hooked us up with a truckload (In all those years living in LA, not ONE of my friends owned a dumptruck!).

The herb garden, with remnants from last summer.

We've still got chives and parsely from last summer that Winter could not kill, as well as rosemary and mint. What do you do with parsely and chives? Seriously. Tell me. If anyone has any ideas, write me!

And thanks to Carolyn Bates for sharing her mighty pipsqueak garden. If you have a victory garden to share, mighty or not, write me!

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