Early each year, I review my gardening notes from the past. I reread over the mistakes I made along with the successes. I also note suggestions I received from friends and neighbors to help me try new things. Since it is the season of planting, I thought I would share some of my notes with you.

Tomatoes

Last year I noted that I began planting tomatoes the first of April. I picked the varieties that were recommended at Sandia Nursery: Red Morning, Phoenix, Dixy Red, Celebrity, and my favorite, Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes. More than half survived the excessive heat. The plants that tapped out early were mainly too hot by the end of August because I planted them in more exposed areas.

As for the production side, our family garden had a good amount of fruit ripening by the end of June. Later, the plants went dormant due to the excessive heat but remained alive and produced again in October and November. So, don’t give up on your tomatoes. If you can keep them watered, they are likely to jump back and start flowering again. We also covered the ground with dry grass clippings to help keep the moisture in and prevent excessive evaporation.

By November, we had a lot of green tomatoes and the nights were getting colder. I was afraid we would lose all the unripened tomatoes, so I picked every single one right before the temperatures dropped below freezing. I placed them in the garage in single layers, and they have all ripened slowly. We ate tomatoes from our garden through the middle of January this year.

If you want to try something new and fun, Sun Sugar tomatoes are terrific. This variety is a sweet surprise in your mouth. As they ripen, they go from a dark green to yellow to orange. That is when you want to pick them to eat. You can serve them on a salad, on morning toast, or with a number of other things—if they can make it from the garden to the kitchen without being eaten! I like to call them “golden nuggets.”

Giant Sunflowers

While I try to plant things that will yield fruit that is useful to me, I have learned to feed the birds. They really enjoy Mammoth Russian sunflower seeds. Last year, I planted six from seeds, and they towered over our other garden plants, providing much needed relief from the summer sun. Their stalks were solid, almost two to three inches in diameter, and they ranged from eight to twelve feet high.

Children love these giant, delightful flowers! Our children measured themselves against them, and when it was time to chop them down, work became play. They loved attacking the sunflowers with their little shovels to release the seeds. They sprinkled them over the ground, and the birds came, hopefully eating some garden bugs as well as the free seed supply.

Basil

I have planted basil in various spots in my yard: in a little planter pot or at the edge of a flower bed. They have done fairly well until the heat causes them to bolt. I usually plant them in the early spring and again in the fall, if I can time it right. I have a note to try Emerald Towers Basil. This variety does not produce flowers, so harvesting is better. I might have something new to share about basil next year!

Last spring, I had a lot of basil seeds. I thought, “I’ll throw these seeds in a long, empty garden row and harvest and dry some basil this year.” When the basil was tall and beginning to bolt, I summoned the boys out to pluck off as many leaves as possible. They enjoyed smelling the plants around them and taking a bite to taste. We filled a large bowl full of little basil leaves. Then I took them inside to wash and spin them dry in a salad spinner.

In the past, I have placed basil leaves in the oven on a low temperature to dry, but this year, I used our stacked dehydrator. My children filled several round trays as full as they could with basil leaves without layering them too much. Then we left them drying in the dehydrator for several hours. When they were done, it was disheartening to see how a large bowl brimming with leaves could be reduced to practically nothing.

Determined to finish our project, we placed the remains in a bag and crushed them with our hands. Then I poured the crushed, dried basil leaves into a glass jar and labeled it. Surprisingly, that little jar has lasted for over six months. We’ve used it in Italian dishes, on top of tomato toast, and in many other favorite recipes. All the work was worth it after all. When it comes to dry herbs, a little goes a long way.

Memories

Planting food is fun and rewarding, but my favorite part of gardening is planting memories with my children. Letting them experience and appreciate the little miracles of life is the greatest fruit for me. They help with the planting and watering. They love watching things begin to grow. They bring me surprises, like those little golden nuggets, with such happy faces. Gardens can be full of disappointments and joyful surprises, just the way life should be.