The reluctant locavore

Why reluctant? Well, I haven’t grown any veggies for many years, not since the cherry tomato fiasco when my kids were small. At that time, in an attempt to encourage my kids to eat more/any veggies, I followed the typical parenting advice which proclaimed kids would be interested in eating what they had grown themselves. Ha! The cherry tomatoes were only used as backyard projectiles or as art supplies to smush into magnificent red graffiti on the garage bricks.

Intrigued by Gayla Trail’s Grow Great Grub, the locavore movement, and a mission to eat healthier, this spring I decided to try growing some of my own veggies: a personal zero-mile diet.

With seeds from McFayden online, I started brandywine heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, bush beans, scarlet runner beans, and hot chili peppers. I added some herbs to round out the culinary feast – sweet basil, thai basil, and rosemary.

brandywine heirloom tomatoes and hot chili peppers

Good thing I realized at an early stage that these tomatoes are indeterminate, meaning they will keep growing as tall as supports allow. Some sturdy 6′ bamboo stakes shoved into the pots and tied together at the top serve to support the growing vines. There is no fruit yet, but lots of flowers.

brandywine heirloom tomato flowers

For the last 7 years, in spite of plans to have flowering vines climbing all over the arch, nothing has survived.  Everything seems to croak after one winter: various clematis; honeysuckle; even climbing hydrangea. This year I’ve started scarlet runner beans on one side as an experiment. Apparently they will produce a lot of food in a small space and grow 10″ tall. The strings look ridiculous right now, but the plants are climbing fast. Hopefully the leaves will eventually screen out the guitar impression. Hummingbird visitors will be an added bonus when these flower.

scarlet runner beans

I’m looking forward to the feast in a few weeks and will likely be on the hunt for some tomato sauce recipes. If the kids don’t want to enjoy the feast, more for me!