Written by Jan Green

You may be familiar with the saying “Good things come to those who wait”. Well, we’ve definitely done our share of waiting! It was the middle of January, the air was brisk, and you’d really rather not be outdoors. Being the dedicated gardeners that we are, we braved the cold, ventured outdoors, and planted several beds of onions as did so many of our private gardeners. Bed after bed of onion starts endured months of frigid temperatures, although many gardeners took pity on their onions and tried to make them comfortable by covering with sheets or about anything that might help protect them from the cold. Then we waited, and waited, and waited. For four long months we’ve been waiting. Then this month, little by little, the onion tops started toppling over, their way of telling us, “We’re ready. Harvest time has arrived.” Onions can definitely be a teacher of patience, but the wait is worth it. We have seen piles of onions heading out the front gate, some finding their way to Good Samaritan, some to Salvation Army, and others to the homes of our fellow gardeners-and beyond. A few are still left in the ground, but we will have grown over 1700 pounds of sweet onions at the community garden this year. For several years now, we’ve been blessed with some of the best and most beautiful onions I’ve seen anywhere.

Now, a quick turnaround on the panty side (This is where produce for Good Samaritan and Salvation Army is grown.) as we rush to add more compost to the garden beds and then plant okra seeds. It doesn’t take quite as much patience as we wait for this crop to ripen, somewhere around two months. By then we’ll be dripping with perspiration as we harvest the pods from that itchy plant which so many people around here seem to love. We welcome anyone willing to join us. When it comes to harvesting okra, volunteers are few and far between. If you’ve been involved in that, you understand why.

Along with the onions, we’ve been busy harvesting other spring crops as well. Squash and cucumbers have been quickly ripening. Soon the temperatures will be too hot for us to grow cucumbers that aren’t bitter, so we’ll switch over to cucumbers that tolerate the Texas heat as our spring cucumbers come to an end. Strawberries have gradually been slowing down and are now beginning to send out their runners for next year’s plants. Blackberries started to produce this month, but harvests have been light.

By the end of the month, some Big Guy jalapeños were just starting to ripen and were definitely looking good and living up to their name – “BIG Guy”. By the first week of June, various types of bell peppers should be ready to go as well- Big Bertha, Whopper, Yolo and Carolina Wonder. Poblanos are putting on size but will probably be just a little longer to reach their desired size. We’ll wait for the Jimmy Nardello peppers to turn from green to red as they sweeten up- a very tasty type of pepper. Although peppers like warm weather, they have their limits. The heat of the summer usually stresses them to the point of a reduction in pepper size. Our Big Guys and Big Berthas are no longer anything to brag about, but we patiently wait for their size to return as both the days and nights cool off and the plant no longer is experiencing this seasonal stress..

As we keep an eye on the tomatoes, a garden favorite, we are hopeful for a good year. The Early Girl Bush tomatoes are loaded, a determinate variety that produces all its fruit in a short period of time as opposed to the indeterminate tomatoes which will continue to grow until frost. Yes, the indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow but don’t always produce as the mercury climbs. Most of our tomatoes are this type, and we again have to practice a bit of patience during the heat of the summer. As the temperatures begin to moderate in early fall, the indeterminate tomato typically puts on a last crop which we hope and pray will ripen before the first freeze. But if not, we know some people who enjoy green tomatoes, so it’s not a total loss.

If you are or wish to be a gardener, expect to practice or learn a little patience along the way, a virtue that is helpful as one faces life’s challenges. Here at Brownwood Community Garden or at your home garden, you learn patience while tending to those plants or seeds you carefully selected, and then you are rewarded as you enjoy your juicy tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, slimy okra (not a fan), or other garden favorites. How’s that for a winning combination?