Grammy is an amazing gardener. Her green thumb is legendary. About as legendary as my black thumb. At the nursery, plants look at me and die on the spot. Packets of seeds jump out of my hands, eager to avoid the death sentence.

So, when Fish expressed interest in gardening, I sent her next door to the woman who can actually grow things. Grammy set up her with The Grow Box system. Together they planted tomatoes, green beans and watermelons.

My problem with gardening is that while I love fresh food, I can’t handle one more living thing being dependent on me for its survival. I manage to remember to feed the kids every day, mostly because they squawk if I don’t. Plants? Plants don’t speak up, they just wilt if you forget to water them. Then when I do water them, I never know how much is enough and frequently I drown them. Oops!

The Grow Box system seems to have eliminated those problems. The dirt bed is situated right above a tank of water. Keep the tank full and the plants will take what they need. Fish did a pretty decent job of remembering to fill the tank everyday and while she was at Girl Scout Camp between my husband and I we kept things wet. (Hat tip to my neighbor Cammy who kept us afloat while we were away for a week in mid-August). Fish was tickled when her labors bore fruit. I was too, because I LOVE fresh tomatoes.

We’re almost at the end of our harvest and all in all, I’d rule this experiment a success. We learned a few things such as beans and watermelons don’t share space very well and green beans taste best when they are picked when they about as long as an 11 year old’s hand. Any bigger and they are chewy. I’m thinking we’ll try again next year maybe even add a few boxes to the collection.

In the mean time please excuse me while I go finish the tomatoes.