Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How will your garden grow?

I really have been an accidental gardener. I moved around too much to really put down roots outside of containers. And if I chanced, for a short period of time to have a plot where I could work the earth I was haphazard in what I would grow. Or attempt to grow. Now and again I would be wildly successful at something like horseradish in North Carolina. That started a war with my neighbor. She was also not fond of my shredded computer paper mulch. Frankly, I found that funny because all the birds favored it as nesting materials for blocks around.

I learned to cook Zucchini because it was the only plant I was successful at in my rocky patch in Sandia Park, New Mexico. I even wrote a cookbook, and for years did a cooking column titled Goats Don't Eat Zucchini.  And they don't. But skunks eat corn. They even know when to do a midnight raid on your about ripe corn. In Questa I discovered why chicos. It is a labor intensive corn product made with corn a week from ripe or before the skunks raid your garden.

Because I hate iceberg lettuce I decided to garden at my high mountain home.  Iceberg lettuce was the product of Moreno Valley farms for years. And the only lettuce the local market carried. So I made raised beds for the purpose of growing Red Sails, and Romaine, and Black Seeded Simpson as well as spinach. BTW Mother only served spinach over cooked. I raised it only for salads and Quiche.

Now I have a hoop house to extend my gardening year by 30 days. And in addition to the successes like every form of lettuce but Iceberg I have expanded to broccoli and Swiss Chard. And I have learned that a bad year doesn't mean you nix a crop. I am doing Brussels Sprouts again this year. Last year was awful for them but the year before they were a bumper crop. But garlic was also not great last year. But it is almost always a winner. And the local store only carries the white stuff from China. I like the Italian and Spanish spicy types. Garlic gives me joy.

And I had two edible stalks of purple asparagus last year. Takes forever to get a bed of it established. But I love that it is purple. I do seem to plant for color like carnival carrots or beets, and rainbow chard. All discovered because I saw the pictures on the seed packages and fell in love.

I now keep a garden journal. And this year am actually engaging in pre-planning for summer. Come March I will propagate plants to be put out in the Hoop House in May. My accidental planting last year was sunflowers and yarrow. Need to come up with an accidental plant for this year.