"'To grow healthy vegetables, keep in mind the four Ws: Watering, weeding, and waiting.''That's only three,' said Chip.
'Whatever,' said Farmer Chundo.
'Oh,' said Chip. 'Watering, weeding, waiting, and whatever.'"
I learned the four Ws not from any garden book or magazine article. Nope, the quote is from a great kids' picture book from the photographer/Weimarainer lover, William Wegman, "Farm Days."
I find myself thinking of the four Ws often at this time of year. I'm waiting for my Bell Peppers to ripen. It seems like I've been waiting for a long time. Growing veggies in a container means more of the first W, watering, than of the second, weeding. But whether the plants are growing in pots or in the ground, there's more of the third W than anything else. (I think the fourth W includes stuff like pest control.) It won't be long now, though. The days are growing shorter and harvest time is nearly here.
25 comments:
What a delightful book and great advice. MMD, there are a few children's books I recommend to adult clients! Sometimes we need to let our inner kid play, something gardeners seem to know instinctively!
Whatever works on so many levels doesn't it!
Beautiful peppers...some cajun food is calling them or will it be Italian?
Gail
I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time on that fourth W.
Gosh, watering is what is happening here lately. We need some rain. Your peppers look good.
Sounds like a good book for all ages. I would add a 5th "W", wondering, as in I wonder sometimes what goes on in my garden when I'm not around!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Mostly watering here. And more watering. The sky keeps teasing me, but I have it all figured out. Water anyway.
Robin Wedewer
Gardening Examiner
Watering is what we seem to be doing the most of in TN. Fortunately we are getting some great rain courtesy of the former hurricane Fay. At least something good comes of something so potentially dangerous!
Watering is a necessary W here but whatever is usually the most fun...things like puttering around, deadheading, tying up floppy things. I don't know that book but will be checking it out on Amazon momentarily!
Your peppers look wonderful and almost ready to pick. My lone pepper plant did nothing this year. I was going to suggest "wondering" for the 4th W, but I see Carol already suggested that. In my case, it would wondering what the heck happened to some of my plants!
Hi MMD,
I'm glad someone is having great luck with peppers this year, because no one I know who has them planted has had any results this year. Ours look beyond pathetic (and I would post pics if it weren't so embarrassing!), and are doing next to nothing. Yes, part of it has been the weather, but this is the 3rd year they've done very little for us and I'm about to give up, but I love them so much that I'll probably keep trying.
Maybe the pots are the way to go because they don't like our extra fertile veggie garden (it gets the lion's share of the compost), so this year I tried them in poorer soil and they look even worse. I can deal with the waiting, but no fruit or very little is very discouraging!
That looks like a fun Wegman book, and I'd not known he'd done it. Will have to check that out!
And, no naked ladies here either! Oh well...
Gail - some books are too good to be called kids' books. These peppers are for eating raw. If there are any spare ones, they'll be roasted for Italian food.
Cindy - I would have thought the second W would be your main occupation.
Lisa - what happened to all that rain we were getting? I was starting to get used to that.
Carol - "wondering" is a good one, such as "I wonder when these peppers are going to ripen?"
Robin - the sky is teasing around here too. Five minutes of rain just doesn't help much.
Dave - TN is close enough to the coast that you get some benefit from those tropical storms & hurricanes. It takes something Katrina sized to make it all the way over here.
Leslie - "whatever" can be fun, unless you're like my nephew, who doesn't want to disbud some of the flowers on his pumpkin vines. I guess he doesn't believe that it will help him have larger pumpkins.
Rose - I had the same problem with my Bell Peppers 2 years ago. I never did figure out what went wrong. "Wondering" it is.
IVG - sorry about your pepper problems. You might want to look for William Wegman's "Cinderella" too. He may have done more, but these & "Little Red Riding Hood" are the only ones I've seen.
Hi MMD, those are some pretty peppers. I like them raw too, used as dippers for just about anything. Our peppers have been less than stellar this year, but seem to have perked up recently. Like Dave and the other TN gardeners, we are getting a good soaking rain at the mo, it should be heading north, maybe you'll get some of it.
No peppers here - it's been too cold a summer :(
So for me it's yet more waiting...
There's an awful lot of whatever going on at the Havens, that's all I can say. In addition to pest control, I think it includes path building and processing produce. Perhaps.
Do you ever grow 'Melrose' Italian frying peppers, MMD? Those were our favorites back in Illinois, rather than bell types.
Down in Austin we're not getting many, just a few Gypsies and Spanish Spice. 'Cornu di Toro' is acting more like Ferdinand, just sitting there.
With stinkbugs and potato bugs and mealy bugs trying to take over I feel like the plant police, so my extra "W" could stand for "Walking the Beat".
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
MMD, The 3 W's are so true, but I have another also. Wishing-for rain, for sun, for blooms or for fruit to ripen. :) I remember, when I used to do veg growing, having enough to freeze, stuff, bake and eat raw. Always loved there fresh crispness. Hope you enjoy yours.
Grin. Sounds like a great book for (budding) gardeners, young and old. But shouldn't there be an F in it somewhere? The F of feeding?
I think this is quite succinct! Sometimes the 'whatever' is what stands out in any given gardening season. I saw some beautiful bell peppers yesterday. They were yellow, flushed with purple. Yours look delicious.
Frances - I'm sorry to report that our chances of rain here are very slim. We can't seem to get in on the tropical storm rain.
VP - get those peppers some warm blankets! :^)
HMH - the 3 Ps?
Annie - I've only grown Bell Peppers & this is my 1st year of branching out to Jalapenos too. I like that W - walking the beat. It's important to keep a close eye on what's going on in the garden.
Beckie - so true, right now I'm wishing for rain. I'm getting tired of watering & even that isn't enough to stop the soil from cracking.
Yolanda Elizabet - F for feeding my face? Or the plants?
Layanee - yellow & purple peppers sound wonderful! Mine look like they're going to be yellow & orange. I don't care that much about the color as long as they taste good.
The waiting was terrible this year. The tomatoes got planted or replanted so late I thought they would never ripen.
Marnie
Hi, MMD! Your photos are great. I had one pepper grow on three plants! ;-) Well, better one than none? ha.
I wonder how my tomatos are doing? I'd picked two before leaving Monday. Will be home Friday morning to see. :-)
Roses & Lilacs - I'm so glad it's not that bad for me this year with the peppers. One year I had to wait til November.
Shady - how sad that you only have 1 pepper. Wish I knew the secret, I'd share it with you. At least you've got tomatoes for consolation.
There are many good lessons to be learned from kids books. Goes hand in hand with the saying, "All I ever need to know I learned in kindergarten." I'll have to check out that book for my son.
I thought my peppers were doing well, yours look great! Everything I've planted besides the peppers is in the watering and waiting mode here. The peppers seem to want to produce with or without me!
So cute, MMD. So cute. I with him, "Whatever." That's how I feel in late August. Whatever.~~Dee
Hi, HAP, thanks for visiting! You sound like you have the touch with peppers.
Dee - I like Wegman's sense of humor, but I know what you mean about feeling "whatever" at this point. We'll be re-energized with the crispness of autumn.
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