My 2019 Good Enough Garden

Back in 2016, I wrote about the Good Housekeeping monthly feature of pulling off a project (usually a home improvement or decorating project) in the "Good Housekeeping" way (expensive) or the "Good Enough" way (cheap and more than passable). I applied that theory to our 2016 garden, realizing "good enough" was more than adequate. I referred to that concept again in 2017 when I put in our garden for the summer. (Last year I appeared to be so busy tracking books that I did not even mention the garden until well into the summer, but trust me, it was a good enough one too.)

That concept—the good enough garden—is still in full force and effect around here. And given that yesterday and today we just put in our good enough garden, now is as good a time as any to write about it.

The good enough garden actually got started in March this year, not because I did anything so earthy

The free planter boxes

as start plants inside (that went by the wayside some years ago) but because I scored four (4!) FREE box planters and one nicely sized round one from the Facebook Delaware Marketplace. Okay, by "got started," I mean I thought about the garden. Good enough, no?

In early May I weeded the garden bed, including cutting back the sage, which wintered over again (again!). Last weekend, we borrowed our neighbor's small electric tiller and Warren tilled the bed so I could start planting.

No compost, no extras. Like I said, good enough.

With the exception of a few (i.e., two) seed packets I had already bought, I bought my plants yesterday from one of our local farm enterprises, Miller's Country Gardens, and a few more seed packets both there and then this morning at another area nursery. I had already purchased two bags, 1.5 cubic feet each, of soil for "Vegetables and Herbs" (remember that). And between the planting spree last night and the seeding spree this morning (each taking a bit longer and a bit more out of me than I thought they should), I was done by, oh, maybe about 11:30 a.m.

Note: I got done that early because my dear husband looked at me troweling up the dirt in the on-their-side cement blocks and, when he couldn't get me to stop, insisted on stepping in to help. He has seen me through several weeks of baffling and frustrating muscle issues (myeloma? age?) and troweled while I filled the holes with soil (that same soil mentioned above).  Thank you, dear Warren.

Lettuce-to-be

So what does this year's good enough garden hold?

Tomatoes, of course. Eight plants: three Early Girl, three 4th of July, one Oh Happy Day (how could I resist a name like that?), and two cherries. Yes, I know that makes nine: the single container of cherry tomatoes actually held two as I discovered when I went to plant it. All but one are caged; the runtier of the two cherries is free because I only have eight cages.

And there are sweet peppers: three California wonders, three Orange Hungarians (they had a cute name, but I didn't write it in my gardening notes), and one Romanian.

In the planter boxes went lots of the soil and then lettuces, something I have never tried growing before: Emerald Jewel, "Select Salad Bowl" (i.e., mixed). Spicy Mesclun, and Black Seeded Simpson (another great name). Because we are just on the cusp of June and salad is not a summer crop, I held back plenty of seed for a fall round of lettuces, assuming I get any at all.

I sowed basil (lots) and rosemary (some) in the large open area. The rosemary is a trial this year; the basil is a given. (We just finished the very last container of 2018 homemade pesto.)  Sunflowers and leftover marigolds went near the back of the garden, by the garage outside wall.

In the cement blocks surrounding two sides of the garden went marigold seeds, two per "pot." Yeah, yeah, I know the soil said "For Vegetables and Herbs," but I have learned (and Hope Jahren in her beautiful memoir Lab Girl confirms this) that seeds know what to do and I have no doubt there will be a fine crop of marigolds (petites) by mid-July.

Those dark spots are the soil with the marigold seeds

The thyme went into the other aforementioned free planter:

And the sage? The sage is in full and beautiful bloom:

There are lots of advantages to a good enough garden, starting with labor. And cost. This year's outlay was $42.25, with 63% of the overall cost being in the bedding plants (that thyme was the priciest, but it is a perennial and I will bring it inside this year). Not bad at all—I can eat $42.00 worth of tomatoes in no time flat.

As I finish writing this on Saturday afternoon, the day has turned windy and gray clouds are filling the sky. Maybe it'll rain. Rain makes my garden grow.

So that's the 2019 good enough garden. According to my garden notes, I planted a week earlier last year and ate my first tomato on June 30. Let's see what this year's good enough garden brings.