How does your garden grow?

Every spring I visit my daughter and begin a garden for her. And every summer she lets it die.... and then every winter I declare I'm not going to plant a garden for her this spring. And every spring I go ahead and plant.

This spring I'm here, stuck here actually unless I want to buck the c.v. tide and what? Go somewhere? I'd actually love to leave the country but hopefully all other countries have closed their borders to us.

So I plant a garden. My grandchild helps me plant potatoes but that's all he's interested in doing. I can't imagine how hard this must be for him, all of the sudden sequestered under this atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. He's adjusting - not that easily - to school online but that just makes it easier for him to get sidetracked by games and race cars and who knows what else on the computer.

So I let him go inside while I continue to plant.

In California, I have snails to contend with. Here the fuckin squirrels try to dig everything up. I guess in California the squirrels are smarter as they wait for the plant to fruit so they can take a nibble out of each fruit. Here the squirrels have eaten so many of my peas and beans I'm now resigned to starting them inside.

This is comfry that I planted seven years ago when my grandson was 4 - she always sleeps for the winter and returns in the spring!

Basil! The fuckin rollypolly bugs are attacking the new leaves but I'm hoping they will soon be uninterested and the basil will survive and then thrive!

Cilantro!!!! I hope I have better luck growing cilantro here than I do in the Bay as it bolts almost immediately there. These plants look happier and healthier already!

And here are the potatoes I found sprouting in my daughter's pantry! They only took a couple days to continue sprouting and sending up leaves! I would have preferred to plant them in tires or a big box but the ground will have to do!

I think this might be mustard greens or broccoli popping up! I can't remember what I planted in which little pot but it won't be a secret for long!

The best and worst thing about my daughter's back yard are the trees: for life and us, they are glorious at the very least. For the garden, they are shading the yard. Plus the squirrels can just jump from tree to tree - you'd think they wouldn't need to come to ground but the pesky things do. I'm now covering patches of earth where I plant with wire mesh until the plants take root. Of course, the rollypolly bugs are next on my hit list...