The Kole Garden

For the benefit of my old hockey teammate Colin Sikon, here's the visual proof that there really is a garden, and that I'm not merely a great fiction writer. Goalies always are a little odd.

The reason I decided to build a raised garden was that when our property was developed, the topsoil was scraped off and sold, rather than stored and replaced. I was planting into clay. The carrots couldn't push through the soil at all.

The framing goes 6' x 14'. Proper drainage, always.

Sifted topsoil, although I added sand at the north end, for the benefit of the cucumbers.

Lettuce, cilantro and basil, after five weeks. The rosemary is crowded out between the lettuce & cilantro.

The big downfall last year was that my work travel schedule was still heavy, and I built the raised bed over several weekends. I didn't plant until July 1! The lettuce was bitter, and the carrots didn't mature until November. I had to water furiously, starting plants in the height of the summer heat.

Having planted on time this year, I'm hopeful for better lettuce. Thing is, I don't know how much better I could hope for anything else to be. That beautiful topsoil made such great produce last year! I had never eaten tomatoes or carrots so delicious. Well, my friend Greg McNair grew awesome tomatoes at his farm up in NW Indiana, and made the most incredible pizza with homemade sauce and sliced several varieties of tomatoes to top it. That was pretty great, too.

Garden Largely Planted

I got a chuckle out of the reactions to my Facebook comments that I had pretty much planted my garden, what with Fishers being relatively in the Deep South as far as all of my gardening friends back in Cleveland are concerned. Yes, we get a good jump on it way down here.

Funny enough, I planted peas and lettuce back on March 7. They can withstand the frost and snow.

Anyhow, I planted more lettuce and peas, spinach, red bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and parsley. I still have to add cucumbers and cilantro.

My criteria for planting is unchanged from the last few years: We like 'em; I can grow 'em cheaper than I can buy 'em; the taste is superior to what we can buy; I can grow 'em easily, without pesticides. Last year's tomatoes were the champs of the garden, as they met all four criteria. They were amazingly good, as were the carrots. I had never had carrots with so much flavor. We found out how much flavor carrots lose in transit.

The herbs are wonderful, as they also meet the criteria. I used so many herbs in soups this winter that I added the oregano and parsley. We dropped broccoli and green beans, as the broccoli was absolutely eaten alive by the cabbage moth caterpillars. The beans were just kind of ordinary, and I can get that at the grocery store any time I please.

There's some variety within the things I plant:

Basil: Genovese and Lemon

Lettuce: Four Seasons, Black Seeded Simpson, Granada, Aragula, and Endive

Tomato: Brandywine... so far.

I have room for six more tomato plants, which I will plant in stages so as to stagger their output. I still haven't settled on which varieties to go with, although I'm thinking about these heirloom varieties: Black Krim, Martino's Romas, Purple Calabash, and Livingston's Golden Queens. Anybody ever grow any of these?

Want To Trade?

My garden is going nuts. It's a problem to have, but my family simply cannot eat all of what we are producing.

If you want to trade, here's what I have ready to go right now:

Cilantro
Italian Basil
Lemon Basil
Simpson Leaf Lettuce

If you are near Fishers and have bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, spinach, or other lettuce varieties, and want to trade, email me at mikekole (a) comcast.net .

In about a week, I'm going to have 50 or more cucumbers. Wow.