| By Bridget Buffa |
My grandparents (Edward and Catherine Pokluda) grew up during a time where money and material possessions were scarce, but homegrown food, hard work, love and the Grace of God were abundant. They were part of the greatest generation of those who were strong, thrifty and frugal by nature. These qualities were ingrained in them by necessity and stayed with them all of their lives.
My mother and father (Roger and Mozelle Lubojasky) also inherited these traits. My dad was the gardener, providing the vegetables for my mom to cook. We had homecooked meals and desserts prepared with love. I like to believe that I have inherited some of those qualities also, so today I will share some tips that hopefully will encourage you to begin enjoying what the fruits of your labor can bring.
Gardening is a wonderful opportunity that helps to feed your family and keep you healthy at the same time! Even if you are a beginner gardener you can start today. The best advice I can give you is to KEEP IT SIMPLE. It’s easy to get excited and plant way more than you can handle when you first start out. I suggest choosing 2-4 different vegetables that you know your family eats frequently and focus on those. Some plants are easier to grow than others. Here are a few:
Green Beans
I’ve never had a problem growing green beans. You can grow either a bush bean or a pole bean. If you choose the pole bean then you will need to have a trellis that it can grow up. Most varieties take 50-70 days until harvest.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are another really easy crop to grow. They are a vine as well so you will need to trellis them. Most varieties take 50-60 days until harvest.
Radishes
Radishes are a fast-growing crop. Succession plant (every 2-3 weeks) for a longer harvest period. Most salad varieties take only 30-40 days until harvest. I did succession planting and I still getting radishes today. I pulled up about 20 yesterday.
Okra
Okra is heat loving plant that is also drought tolerant (great for Hot Texas Summers). Pick pods when they are young and tender (usually around 3″-5″ in long). Pods will become too tough to eat once they get too long.
While gardening is a lot of work, it’s also relaxing and therapeutic. Watching a tiny seed grow into a mature plant that feeds your family is truly an amazing thing! We all have certain expectations for our garden, but try to relax and realize that it will all work out in the end! Or it won’t and you will just have to go the farmer’s market and keep trying.
I hope I’ve encouraged you a little and given you some confidence as you begin your gardening journey. I would love to hear from you to see how your garden is growing. Let me know bbuffa1@gmail.com
I’m sure many of you have seen the League City Wildflower Project at the intersection of Hwy 3 and 96. It is beautiful when in full bloom. The League City Garden Club along with the City of League City started their project in October 2013.
The Texas City Garden Club along the wonderful Parks and Recreation Department with soon begin our own Wildflower Project. We are looking at the hill going up to Skyline Drive as our location. The Garden Club is very excited about this new endeavor. It’s our way of bringing beauty to our great city. I will keep you updated on our progress.
As always, I welcome your comments or suggestions for future columns. Contact me @ bbuffa1@gmail.com
