My first year, I planted zuchini and it grew like crazy. Unfortunately so did the beetles that ate it. Every morning I went out to water it, and they’d scatter. I didn’t want to use pesticide on my food, so I waged a war spraying the hose with one hand and crushing them with the other. I have a bad back, so that was fun. The next year I added cantaloupe, ready for the same song and dance. Between the bugs and the heat, I managed to harvest one single zuchini before they ate what hadn’t shriveled up under the sun. The year after that, I tried onions. They overtook the flower bed and the root system is weedlike. I think I put too many, too close together. This year I’ve been in too much pain and its been too hot, so I haven’t even tried. That was all at my parents place. My apartment doesn’t have much patio space, so it gets partial sun. I’ve tried to raise tomatoes, carrots, zuchini and anything that sprouts from my compost. Everything starts out ok but by a month the sun has shifted and doesn’t hit the space the same the rest of the summer.

I understand if I had better land, more time, more sun, and no bugs maybe it would be easy. But you gotta be kidding me.