(Columns often contain opinions)
Yesterday’s lunch came out of my yard.Some lettuce, several tomatoes and a bell pepper.
That might not sound like much to those of you who feed your neighborhood on your garden but after years of hearing my husband joke that I could “kill a plastic plant,” I may be finally transitioning from plant hospice worker to a green thumb.
The jury is still out on that, but I’ve always loved fresh produce. I don’t mean the stuff from the grocery store either. Tuesday’s lunch was the second meal in a week in which all the produce came from my small plot. And forget pretty photos.
You know that food photographers don’t always use real food to make stuff look delicious, right? My brother introduced me to an award-winning food photographer and he has all kinds of special cameras, lights and tricks – of which I have zero. But trust me when I say, it looked better in person and tasted fantastic. But I digress.
Today (July 15) is my Uncle Landrum’s birthday. He’s been gone about 20 years, but I remember visiting him, my Aunt Elizabeth and my Uncle Earl in north Florida during the summer as a kid. They were farmers with corn taller than Shaquille O’Neal, bright red, juicy tomatoes (which were always paired with bacon and mayo on bread), sweet watermelon, black-eyed peas. So good,
When I think of summer, my first thought is the flavorful food.
Anyway, gardening/farming is not genetic, and at 8 or 9, I couldn’t have cared less about learning farming techniques. But I do remember shelling peas and shucking corn.
I’ve tried over the years to grow stuff. I’ve gotten a few tomatoes here and there, a few tiny bell peppers, and one year I had a single watermelon start growing in early October. Weird I know. It made it to the size of a cantaloupe, and I picked it in November because a 12-hour cold snap killed the vine.
Houseplants are another story. Let’s say a prayer and light a candle for all the houseplants who saw me before they crossed over to the other side. I wasn’t too great with them – i.e. the plastic plant joke which was partially true because I put an artificial plant too close to the sunlight in the first couple of years of marriage, and you get the picture.
My grandmother, whose brother was Uncle Landrum, had the most gorgeous ferns, but she didn’t pass on that secret either.
I think my tide started to turn when my friend Tracy gave me a shamrock plant in March of 2023.
Shamrocks are the most unkillable plants I’ve ever seen. I’ve forgotten to water that thing and only a single wilted sprig remained, but somehow I threw a cup of water on it; two weeks later it was filled out. I even transplanted it. It not only survived but thrived. And my daughter Jessica gave me a miniature rose for Mother’s Day. I really thought it was a goner. I transplanted it and it’s got rosebuds on it July 15.
This year we prepped the garden and I did as all my gardener friends have said to do – wait until Easter to plant. So on Easter Sunday, I was in my garden planting before I went to Easter service with dirt residue under my nails.
I planted three zucchini plants. It’s a good thing one of those didn’t survive because they took over a huge patch of the garden. Those leaves were massive at one point and the zucchini looked like they were on steroids. Those things grow extremely fast.
I planted three tomato plants – one Better Boy and two heirlooms. One of the heirlooms was sandwiched between the other two tomato plants so it didn’t make it either. I removed some leaves but probably not enough. I did have some bloom rot early on, but I bought the appropriate fix. They look perfect now.
While I’m celebrating my wins, some of the plants just didn’t make it. I planted lettuce and carrot seeds with very little to show. I harvested one bunch of lettuce leaves. The carrots didn’t sprout. My bell peppers for the most part have been tiny, and my zucchinis have reached their end. I’m going to miss zucchini lasagna, stir fry with zucchini, spiralized zucchini, my mother-in-law even made zucchini bread.
The tomatoes are starting to overflow now and I don’t complain. I still love a good tomato.
I’m already thinking ahead to next year because I’ve learned quite a few things this summer. I’d really like to have a small greenhouse to have plants year round though.
While I won’t call myself a green thumb yet, I think I’m making progress.
In the meantime, I need to look up tomato pie recipes.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards, is the recipient of the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award and was named best local writer by readers of Augusta Magazine in 2024 and 2025. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
