My Summer Garden ( Summer of 2009)

My vegetable garden in the summer of 2009

I'm a writer based in Johanneburg, South Africa. I love gardening and sharing through words, which is why I started this blog. For more information about me, check out my personal blog.

Anyhoo, when I first started growing vegetables in my garden, I used a patch of land that is part of the backyard. It seemed like a natural place to grow my veges, as it was at the back, close to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, my crops didn't thrive. I think the soil is not very healthy there. And somehow, everytime it rained, the top soil would be swept away, along with anything else that I tried planting.

In summer, I was able to pull a crop like this daily

So I decided to remove the old lawn which was part of my front garden. Most of the time the lawn was ugly. It was real old, with weeds. And what was the point of spending money to keep a lawn tidy, when it served no purpose except being pretty? I certainly couldn't eat it!

Cabbages were among my best crops in 2009

Last year I planted my first crop on the land. I grew cabbage, pumpkin, squash, spinach, beetroot, carrots, green beans, chilli, rocket, lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers. Many thanks to Baba Jerome for the tomato plantings, and to Priscilla for the chilli bushes. They were a nice addition to my crops.

The garden worked so wonderfully I've decided to do it again, and this time, learn from some of the mistakes I made ( like, don't grow pumpkin there, because it spreads all over and is not the most judicious use of the land).

But, this year, I'm going to share my adventure with you. I hope you also learn from my experiences. And pleasse feel free to teach me when you feel it relevant.