arently a coveted one as well. As with any university (hippy) town, there is always the community garden. Beau and I are lucky enough to live just a few blocks away from one, which the website said was very popular and that plots went fast. So, for weeks my heart was all a-flutter with nervousness, wondering if I'd get one at all, and if not, if I could even get one at some distant location. Then Beau pretended to get serious and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? Start another garden?""Why not? You know how much I love doing this together."
"I know, but you realize, since we've moved in together, you've started two garden plots, and both times, we had to leave the country before the season was over."
I paused. This was actually true. Both in Missouri and New Zealand I had started grand plots that were just starting to kick into hyperdrive when we left (with much sorrow on my part). Was this some kind of gardening curse?
"Ha ha ha, that's silly!" I proclaimed with not much confidence.
So, on a VERY windy Saturday morning, the DAY it was all to go down, I showed up at 11:45am. Previous-year plotters could show up at 10am and re-claim their plots, newcomers at noon. I was going to leave even earlier, but was in the middle of doing our taxes (yes, this late), and didn't make it out the door. When I got there, and shyly walked up to the ramshackle shed that housed two perky college women, I found there was only one couple before me, and the women informed me there were "plenty of plots" to go around. Yipee! But by the rules of the place, we had to wait until the clock struck noon before being able to claim one. No problem, I brought a book.
While standing there, a couple of other college women chatted beside me, where I heard this line: "I got the plot in the divorce."
And to think all I got in my divorce was my maxed out credit cards and my name back.
Finally, the time came, and I asked the woman to help me choose. She walked me to the center where a very nice plot was, conveniently located near a water spout and covered with straw (they were supposed to do that at the end of the last season). It looked nice and I liked its location since I was told outside plots sometimes get their veggies ripped off, and after my homicidal rage at the thieving squirrels of Missouri, I
didn't want to go through that again. Not like I can post a live trap for thieving neighborhood kids. I mean, where would I release them?Anyway, though some hearty gardeners began immediately to clear and ready their plots, I just wanted to get out of the wind and back home to our taxes. I was home about 30 minutes when the phone rang.
A hesitant and apologetic female voice was on the phone - one of the perky college students. She informed that last year's owner of my plot had called up, absolutely irate that HIS plot had been given out to another and that he had reserved his three months earlier. I was confused at this (as was the young woman who was running the show for someone else that day), since I thought the rules were strict and clear -- it all happens on one day, at 10am and 12pm. The woman apologized again and asked what I wanted to do. My first (NYC) reaction was for him to fuck off. I had done exactly what you were supposed to do and I really liked the plot. But then in my mind I suddenly envisioned the scenario of Beau and I pulling weeds from between our tomato plants, only to have Mr Jerk-Off-Crybaby giving me the stinkeye from his new, consolation prize plot. I didn't really want to deal with a pissy hippy all summer long, so I said I'd take a new plot. She gave me its number (which don't seem to go in any logical order) and told me it was "kitty corner" to my previous one.
When Beau and I went later, I had some difficulty locating my original plot, but then did, and then we were confused which kitty corner plot was ours, which was kind of a bummer since I was really in the mood to get started. But just my luck, we'd work for two hours on some else's plot, clearing weeds and such. No thank you!
Despite the initial drama (is there any other way in my life?), I'm super excited to get going with this. I've got my gloves, my mini-rake, and I've already bought one tomato and one basil plant, which are patiently per
ched upon my living room windowsill and actually already growing a bit. The hardest part will be limiting myself to the plot given, as I tend to get a bit manic with gardening and continue buying and buying vegetable and herb plants and slowly and secretly urban-sprawling the garden, trying without success to hide the expansion from Beau. There have been more than one occasion when he will be serenely digging away in the garden, only to suddenly pause and go, "Hey, that plant wasn't there yesterday." And me pretending I didn't hear the comment, go on watering the basil plants and trying to keep a straight face, before I explode out, "Well, I couldn't help it! How am I supposed to make pesto without more basil plants? I mean, you need like 10,000 basil leaves for one thing of pesto!."It's true, you know. You do.
10 comments:
I know. (Also, there are many, many kinds of basil.)
I'm old school in that for the most part I stick to sweet basil and such. I tried the purple basil and the chocolate basil and I thought both were yuck. I may try lemon basil this year.
Andy seems to really like the Thai basil. I think this year we planted genovese (sp?), lettuce leaf, purple, and Thai. Who knows what will actually make it to be grown-up basil.
I do love, and use, a lot of Thai basil too, though I have yet to see it for sale around here. I was lucky enough to score a pack of seeds for Thai chilies though which made me very happy.
- Gardener Geek
I like to cook with thai basil, but for pesto type stuff I like the italian or big leaf or whatever it is called basil, because you get a lot of bang for your buck. The thai leaves tend to be rather small and potent.
My father grows what he calls dragon chilies. He's bred them for the last 5 or 6 years to create plants that produce really well in northern climates. I'm not sure I have that sort of patience. :)
That Thai basil is really great for, obviously, Thai curry, which is what I use it for. The only thing that bothers me about it (and the other flavored basils I've tried), is the slight licorice flavor to them, and I hate licorice! I just use the Genovese or Sweet basil for pesto. I was lucky in Missouri to have very tall, very prolific plants, even though they were tiny when I bought them.
One thing I miss a lot about NZ, is they'd sell fresh herbs cheaply at the store, like they do here, but they'd be sitting in a little pot with soil. So you could take it home and stick it in your window and it'd continue to grow. So basically, you were just buying a little plant, with the idea you'd pick away at it over time. I had my whole kitchen windowsill lined with them. I haven't seen anything like that here in the stores. *nostalgic sigh*
Meijer in MI had little herb pots in the produce section every year. I dunno about cheap. But...it was Meijer.
Hmm we don't have Meijer's, but maybe Lowe's or Home Depot will have them. Thanks for the tip. I can only plant so many basil bushes in our community garden. Plus, I'm a big fan of the underrated curly parsley.
I saved a large curly parsley plant from our old house in November, and it has been living in the room under the sunroom. I think it's still alive. It takes a lot to kill parsley....since it was growing in snow in Michigan.
Hooray for curly parsley! Didn't know it was such hardy stuff. The salt air in NZ used to burn them a little, but they wouldn't die.
Now if I can only convince Beau to let me put a giant potted gooseberry bush inside the apartment by the window...
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