GARDEN CHAT By Jean Lundquist
Tough decisions for my garden M
y grow bags are all emptied and stacked behind the shed. As I moved them this fall, more handles gave way to sun rot and broke in my hands. The bags are heavy, especially when the soil in them is damp. Moving them is a chore I don’t relish, but at least I didn’t face plant because of them this fall. I don’t intend to use them again next year. That’s not to say, however, they are useless. The morning sun warms them, and the cats love to sleep on them, apparently choosing a different one for each day. A month ago, my garden was a mass of 6-foot-tall weeds, dried and gone to seed. I tried to clear it but failed. I hired a couple of young folks to clear it for me. They did a great job! Next year, my garden will be planted in the ground, not in bags. Plants in grow bags are almost as needy as chickens. They need to be watered and cared for every day. Twice a day if it’s really hot. It’s hard to 42 • DECEMBER 2021 • MANKATO MAGAZINE
find someone to come and water for me, even if I pay them. I figure I can do with a fraction of the number of tomato plants I grew this year. In bags, tomatoes are not very prolific, but with enough plants, I got as many as I needed, plus some. I’ll spend the next few months figuring out which varieties to plant. But more importantly, which varieties not to plant. This is going to be a hard winter. I have four sturdy tomato cages, so my goal is to grow four tomato plants. I’m already expecting I will not be successful at this. Once, many years ago when my garden was seven times the size of my house, I grew 36 varieties and doubles of some of them. I have no idea how I will decide which to keep and which to keep out. Ditto for the peppers. Two people cannot eat the fruit of 12 pepper plants, even when they produce less because they are grown in bags. I finally started fertilizing them, knowing they are heavy feeders, and then we were really overwhelmed.
