(4) My Garden, My Austin

I mentioned in my previous post that I had a vegetable garden, but somehow omitted a few chief details. I recently planted a garden with my boyfriend on March 30th. This is a first garden for both of us and frankly, we have no freaking clue what we're doing. It all started when a sweet, elderly neighbor came knocking on our door last week. Not only is this woman the epitome of a retired Austinite, but she is also the epitome of a retired gardener.


During our initial meeting, a large canvas hat covered her unruly long, white hair. She wore brown gardening boots, white gardening gloves, and a Longhorn belt to match. I immediately noticed her strong southern accent, yet she is as soft-spoken as a butterfly's wings. She is gentle enough to soothe a rose petal, but tough enough to dig a ten-foot hole. I'll have to explain to you why she is such an Austinite, but to do this I must first describe Austin. Austin is not like the rest of Texas- hence why this northern girl is living here. It is not desert-like, but is instead full of rolling hills and swimming holes. Austinites pride themselves on being "weird" and are more eco-friendly than an electric car. They love their organic soaps, Whole Foods, biking culture, food trailers, and constant live music. Somehow they retain a sense of Texas pride, yet everyone here bleeds not only orange, but a beautiful democratic blue (obviously unlike the people in rest of this state). Being from Austin, my kind neighbor loves homegrown vegetables, supports only local restaurants, and actually seems to value all life on this planet. Oh, and like me, she loves yoga. So naturally, when this wise woman came to my door, I listened to what she had to say. She told us that we were allowed to plant a small garden in a plot next door and we instantly jumped at the chance.

We dug a hole. A 5x5 square to be exact and believe me, it wasn't easy (in fact, I will let you know now that I will never work for a business that calls for digging). After spending hours pulling out stones, weeds, and roots- making our soil as beautiful and as fine as a black sand beach- we were told that gardens are supposed to be elevated for airflow purposes. Ours is about eight inches below ground level- a fact I was once proud of. We were also then told, "just continue to till the soil, add compost and fertilizer, plant in rows, give room to the plants, and follow the directions on the seed packets. Dig a trench for each pathway and remove any remaining grass roots with seedpods from each forkful as you dig it up." Umm...what? Do what to the soil? How much compost? How much room? Seedpods, who? We decided to ask the experts at a gardening store who happily filled our cart with $70 worth of vegetables and supplies. We bought bell peppers, cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, basil, okra, Asian carrots, various flowers, and a whole bunch of seeds. We built a fence, planted as best we could, and now, we wait. Already our African daisies are dead and our okra is looking grim, but I did see a few buds today that I ended up staring at and clapping over like a baby with a rattle. I'll keep you updated and plan to share pictures soon. I do hope it thrives as I would love nothing more than to bite into a homegrown, plump tomato. Even if everything dies, which I'm pretty confident about, I'm glad we at least went for it.

Now that you have a little more background on Austin, you might have a better understanding as to why I choose to eat at the restaurants I do. There's definitely a unique style to Austin's dining scene which I will begin to explore in my next posts. I will also introduce you to my new amazing Brazilian friend down the street...She is a restaurant named Rio's Brazilian Cafe.

Newly Planted Basil!