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How does her garden grow?

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

‘How’re my vegetables!’ my 7-year-old niece yells into the phone.

‘Fine,’ I reply. ‘How are you? How’s school?’

‘How big are my sunflowers!’ she interrupts, too focused for pleasantries. I tell her the sunflowers are about up to her knee. And she continues, wanting information on each of the vegetables: the corn (up to her waist), tomatoes (waist), beans (as tall as she, but spindly), cucumbers (size of her hand), melons (same as the cucumbers), and pumpkins (the leaves alone are as big as her head). She’s not interested in the peppers.

Last year, I converted part of the backyard (about 200 square feet) into a vegetable garden. I wanted it to be totally organic, which was -- and still is -- quite a learning experience. Yeah, I learned all about tomato worms and white mold, but nothing beats the feeling you get when you can pick your tomatoes and cucumbers five minutes before they go into your evening salad. It was so rewarding that this year I wanted to invite my niece to participate, so she could learn firsthand how all her dinner vegetables come to be.

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We started six weeks ago, weeding and tilling the soil, readying the garden for planting. I placed an order earlier this year for seeds and seedlings from Seed Savers Exchange, a nonprofit organization focused on preserving heirloom vegetable and flower varieties. When everything arrived in the mail, we were ready.

We followed the ‘Three Sisters’ method for planting the corn, beans and pumpkins: The beans climb up the corn to support it, the corn provides extra nitrogen in the soil for the pumpkins, and the pumpkins provide shade so the soil doesn’t dry out. We planted basil with the tomatoes; supposedly basil keeps the tomato worms at bay. When everything else was planted, I installed an irrigation system to help combat the white mold. (The mold thrives on damp leaves -- no more watering with a hose for me.)

After two weeks, everything had sprouted. To keep all the bad bugs at bay, we picked up ladybugs and praying mantis egg sacs from the hardware store. I don’t know what fascinates my niece more, watching those seeds turn into big plants, or seeing 700 hungry ladybugs emerge from a pint-sized jar.

Though my niece has come over every other weekend since the planting, she’d call once a week for updates. Now that the plants are -- quite literally -- growing a foot a day, I get my call almost daily.

So far, no white mold or tomato worms, and my fingers are crossed. But if you have any other suggestions, please comment, I’d love to know. Otherwise, I’ll be sure to update as the season continues, but I’ll spare you the daily briefings.

-- Noelle Carter

Photos by Noelle Carter

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