Every year I put in a garden. I vow I will care for it. I say I will weed it. I swear to keep it watered and tended. And every year, I fail. I do not do any of those things. By July, it’s so dry and the weeds so tall, I just throw up my hands and go to the farmer’s market. This year was no different. I am pretty good at growing weeds. Stick with what your good at, right? Despite the fact that I ignored it almost from day one, I still manage to get peppers out the wazoo. They did not go to waste. I ate them. I gave them away. And I think the raccoon got some, too. But the most surprising thing out of my sad garden this year is that eggplant. I wanted to plant something different. I don’t know why. I guess I got tired of ignoring tomatoes and peppers. But I put in an eggplant. The eggplant kept flowering, but the flower would fall off.  And nothing. Then one day, as I lamented my inability to properly maintain my garden, I noticed something. A purple fruit. An eggplant. Maybe ignoring eggplants is the best way to grow them. I don’t know, but somehow, I managed to get an eggplant out of that sad, neglected piece of land.
Next year, I’m putting in a raised garden. And I swear I’ll love it and care for it. I will tend it like a good steward of the earth. Or I will at least tr.

Weeds I’ve grown.

Eggplant.