I’ve spent a lot of time in the garden lately, which has been absolute heaven for me, and has also lead me to analyse what it is that I love so much about vegetable gardening…
I’ve decided the answer is pretty straight forward; I love watching things grow and develop.
This applies to all kinds of gardening, but I think it’s the most satisfying when you’re growing veg. Don’t get me wrong, I like seeing flowers and shrubs develop, but to me, it seems that once your flowering plants reach a certain size, you spend the rest of your time pruning, dead-heading and cutting back to stop them taking over!
With vegetables, for the most part, it’s different.
From the moment I sew the seed, I’m waiting impatiently to see that first green shoot poking through the soil. Then I’m watching for the first set of true leaves, and after that I’m measuring every day’s growth, anticipating the first flower appearing.
Flowers then turn to tiny fruit, which, if I’m lucky, will continue to grow day on day, until they begin to ripen and are ready to be picked.
Reading this, you can probably tell that I’m more of a ‘fruiting veg’ kinda girl. I still dabble in brassicas and salad leaves, but I find the most satisfying produce is the type that flowers first, then fruits. This year I’m particularly excited about the cucumbers that are thriving outdoors in the mediterranean sun (in previous years they’ve failed miserably in my damp greenhouse).
Working ‘from home’ this summer has given me the wonderful gift of time – a cliche I know, but this time last year I would be leaving work at 6.30pm, arriving home after 7pm, cooking dinner, and if I was lucky, grabbing 5 minutes in the garden before it got too dark to see what I was doing. Gardening was more of a weekend treat. This summer, I’ve been finishing work at 5pm English time (6pm French time) and immediately stepping outside and into the veg garden, where I can spend a good hour watering, weeding, observing and admiring, before it’s time to move on with the evening’s activities.
I can honestly say, I am not searching for an abundance of crops this year (which somewhat hampers my other passion, preserving) for example at the moment I’ve only got 1 healthy looking pumpkin from 5 plants, but I am genuinely satisfied to just take pleasure in watching the plants develop day on day, week on week. 🙂
Gardening with Boys 
I hear you- I love ‘to create’ so gardening is a perfect outlet.
Veggie gardening does it for me too, especially the courgettes and tomatoes – I too dabble in brasicas and flowers, but veggies are my passion.