My not-so-secret garden

I admit it. I like gardening. I like it quite a lot.

Some do it for subsistence, some do it for stress-relief, others just do it because there's nothing else to do. I'm somewhere in the middle. To me, it's the primary challenge of keeping something alive. Everyone's knows someone who "just can't seem to keep that damn houseplant alive!" Fortunately, I'm not one of those. I don't claim to be a farmer, or even know anything close to what the "right" thing is to do, but I do seem to keep the plants, at the very least, alive.

Last year, I had some luck with the okra, to the point where I no longer picked them because the plants were getting unmanageable. The tomatoes were a bit of a disappointment, and the peppers more so. This year, I'm trying something a little bit different. I'm attempting strawberries, tomatoes, and those ever-present shallots. Because I'm attempting strawberries, horticulturists recommend planting basil nearby to keep the flies away, so I'm doing that, too. I can't claim to be the biggest fan of basil, but maybe, like tomatoes, I'll grow a fondness for them. I do like pesto, after all.

I've also dug out a second garden box to go along with the original. There's nothing in it yet, but I'll find something to put in there when I get back from Taiwan.