And here we lay our seen: the backyard of a house in New Haven's Westville neighborhood, right underneath the sheer face of West Rock. Fledgling zucchini never had such a view. The house (not pictured -- the view here is from the back yard, looking out on a neighbor's) is owned by a friend of a friend who, having finished with law school, has departed and put the place up for sale. In her absence, our friend -- let him here be known as "The Canadian Squatter" -- is in residence, keeping an eye on the place. While we of course wish the owner all the best in the New Haven real estate market, we're hoping against hope that any transfers of deed can wait at least until harvest time. With her blessing in the endeavor, it was time to sow. We decided on a plot about 4' x 10', up close to the fence, which after a bit of work with a mattock and a rake was all in place. In fine squatters' garden fashion, we edged the borders with some cheap plastic stuff from home depot, complemented by the remains of an IKEA bookcase. Nice!
The sunlight was fading fast, but the planting continued apace. By nightfall we had it: an honest-to-God vegetable garden. From front to back, we've got: zucchini, cucumbers, ancho peppers, eggplants, cabbage, brussels sprouts, red onions, white onions, and four varieties of heirloom tomatoes.
Alright, so it didn't look like much, especially by the light of the shitty flash on my five-year old Canon point-and-shoot. The Canadian Squatter went to work dutifully watering them each day, however, and at the one-week point we were all three somewhat surprised to see that shit hadn't died. The anchos, eggplants, and cabbage all looked great.
As did the onions, tomatoes, and everything else.
Flying still by the seat of our pants, we decided to stake the tomatoes -- because that's what you're supposed to do, and because the bamboo stakes were way cheaper than the intricate metal cages in the Garden Center at Home Depot.
And now's when we really started cooking with gas. Over the next couple of weeks, things took off. In a few weeks our brussels sprouts went from this:
To this:
Unfortunately it looks like some cabbage worms were getting their snack on, although we've yet to capture any of the culprits in the act. Our crack team of researchers is on the case, so far only reporting the old-wives'-tale-via-the-internet that we should plant thyme next to the cabbages, and this should scare off the offending vermin. I'm not sure what is so scary about thyme, myself, but then again I am not a cabbage worm. Week three also marked the celebration of first fruits: our very own, little baby ancho pepper. Call us an untraditional family if you must, but the Squatter, my Lady Friend, and I were all three very proud.
And this week, things are really rocking. The tomatoes are going mad, and needed further tying to their stakes.
Our first actual tomatoes have appeared on the vine (see teaser photo), and one pioneering fruit as begun to lead the cucumber charge.
And if the flowers on the zucchinis have anything to say about it, the summer squash won't be too far behind.
Now that we're pretty sure that actual produce will appear from out of the earth with minimal effort on our part, plans are already afoot for a harvest feast. We figure that between the eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onions, and tomatoes, we've got enough for a homegrown ratatouille. Check back for the updates soon.
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