The Tweakers Stole My Tomatoes

They did. I literally walked out my front door in a rush to get to the Post Office one day and ran right into two meth heads walking out of my garden with a big bag of the last of my unripe tomatoes.  I was taken by surprise and a little intimidated by the one - who got into a car much nicer than mine, btw - but I did maneage to sternly scold them and told them to ask next time. Right. Thats gonna happen...........

I saw it coming and I was warned. They made off with my biggest pumpkin and the one tweaker was always making comments on the garden when he walked by. He was, in an off-handed way, telling me that he was about to steal from me. Thats how it often works. But in broad daylight. In front of people. Nobody lifted a finger to stop them or tell me.  I know the one guy and see him around a lot. I doubt that I will be able to not say something to him in the future. I called the cops and felt like an idiot for doing so. But when I went to the last police liason meeting, they did express the need to know every little thing that these guys were up to. Its just tomatoes, but they were my tomatoes. And I was so very proud of them. :(

I either have to find another place to grow tomatoes or I have to build a fence that I cant afford. Its always something, isnt it. But I grew some damned fine tomatoes and I can now take that knowledge elsewhere.


On that note, the plants were shutting down and I recently pulled them up, dug in a bit more aged chicken shit, tore down and built back up my bean poles, and planted peas and garlic. Lots of garlic. Im just going to plant things that have worked for me in the past and keep my fingers crossed........

January/February 2013

I started digging up the grass and weeds in the area close to the house. I really started getting into it - and it provided me with a lot of exercise. It pulled up really easy. The weather was still very chilly, but it felt good to be out in whatever sun was available. All I could think of were the rows of canning jars filled with produce from my organic garden.

 Ta Da!

So bit by bit, to the entertainment of my neighbors, I dug this monster up with a shovel and my own two hands. I put down old bricks from the building that had once lived in this spot, rearranged rocks and concrete, and built myself the beginnings of a garden. I KNEW that I was probably not going to get the results that I was fantasizing about because I simply had no money or resources for new soil and amendments. But I was going to give it one hell of a try! I kept finding burned wood in the soil as I dug it up. The building here had burned down maybe 15 years ago or so. But ash is good for the soil. Right?

  Hope springs eternal.
The weather in late February was allowing me to plant some peas and replant some potted herbs.
And in the meantime, I started basil, pepper, and lots of Heirloom tomato seeds upstairs under my skylight. My friend Lisa and I were getting lots of  heirloom and organic seeds from places like Baker Creek and Territorial Seeds. I pored through the seed catalogs for hours, trying to figure out what would grow  well in this area. I did really well with getting my seedlings started.The conditions were perfect. In fact, people told me that they just couldn't do it well, gave up, and went on to get their plants from a nursery. So I was plenty pleased with myself.