Salad in a bucket

Laugh if you must....

Early this spring, I advised Husband I wanted to have a garden. I enjoy fresh veggies from the garden and there is nothing like picking them from one's "own backyard". Husband shook his head and asked if I remembered what happened to my last garden.

My last garden was planted several years ago. It involved using a big Troy Bilt Rototiller through 99% rock and 1% soil. After all the work of tilling was accomplished, we had to install a fence around the garden, complete with a gate.

The garden grew quite nicely and as late summer rolled around and it was time for the harvest, deer showed up, hopping over the fence and contentedly munching on our green bean plants. Many of our tomatoes had "bites" taken out of them, and the green peppers never showed much in the way of bearing fruit. Our corn crop was pretty sparse as well.

As the deer overtook our greenery, I found myself outside watching them, not having the heart to shoo them off the premises. Yes, my gardening skills were found to be of little to no value.

So...perhaps Husband reconsidered or his conscience led him to compromise. One day in late spring, he asked if I might like to buy some tomato and pepper plants. He suggested trying to grow them (once again) in five gallon buckets. Now, this system didn't yield abundantly, but we did indeed get some produce.

I stubbornly said "no thank you". Then, *I* reconsidered. I bought two tomato plants and two pepper plants. I had previously bought some lettuce seeds when I had anticipated planting a "real" garden. I also had a few onion sets.

So. First, I planted the tomato plants and pepper plants....one plant per bucket. Then I had the brilliant idea to place onion sets around the bottom of each plant. Even later, another brilliant moment caused me to scatter a bit of lettuce seed around the base of the pepper plants. Husband thought I was crazed.

Fast forward to now. My tomato plants have many tomatoes of various sizes on their branches. The pepper plants have suddenly shot out like crazy! There are little peppers here and there and everywhere! I am unsure about the onion sets, but the lettuce grew about four times the size it was only a week ago!

Now, to wait just a little longer and well....perhaps I am NOT so crazy?