Some parts of the vegetable garden actually contain vegetables.

I just spent a large part of my Saturday afternoon putting together this year’s seed list, mostly for the vegtable patch. It’s not easy leafing through all the catalogs, browsing the websites, and looking up exactly what varieties will be best suited for your own little patch of land. The hours add up and it almost seems like more work than hobby, especially when you realize no one in this household really even likes vegetables.
Heirloom tomatoes, obscure asian greens, european market vegetables…. all sound great, but when you’re a canned corn and frozen spinach (usually only used for making dip) kind of family, a normal person might question the whole process.
The neighbors appreciate it though, and when a tray of eggplant parmesan shows up on our doorstep it’s all good.
As you can see in this photo from last year, flowers tend to dominate the veggies, each year getting a little worse. Annuals are one thing but perennials are a little harder to plant the tomatoes around. It seemed like a good idea in September but devoting four beds to tulips and daffodils (and one bed to hellebore seedlings) might be a problem when it’s time to plant peas.