His name is Peter and he grows peppers by the bushel and peck, so naturally he’s called "Pepper Pete". These beauties cooked up nicely and were eaten in one sitting, something I won’t be doing with any of the flame-throwing types he also loves and grows. My haul of giveaways also included a large bag of mustard greens and a gourd that I hope to transform into a birdhouse next spring. All this abundance gives me pause because what can I bring in from my own garden for dinner? That would be a big zip. And people like Pete and some of my fellow gardening bloggers are inspiring me to wonder why that is.
So what drives some people to grow edibles and others to grow "ornamentals," which when you put it that way sure sound frivolous. I’ve always blamed it on my shortage of sun, a problem almost everyone in Takoma Park has (we love our old trees but this is the trade-off). So for those precious spots with enough sun for veggies I choose BEAUTY. I’m writing that big and proud like I don’t feel defensive about it. After all, there’s an organic farmers’ market every Sunday and an organic grocery store two blocks away and aren’t I helping by supporting them?
Now comes the other reason, the bigger one: it’s all so healthy and it requires so much cooking. Really, I’d love to be an earth mother type, growing and cooking delicious healthful meals, but I still hate to cook, despite years of half-hearted attempts to change that sad fact. So I support my local organic co-op by buying fruit, some baked goods (starch being my favorite food group) and their frozen dinners. And I’ll cook the homegrown vegetables my friends grow and send me home with, but it better not happen too often.
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