When Does One Become a Gardener?

I've been pondering today. And picking lettuces - my first harvest! So, when does one officially become a gardener?

Is it when you:

1. Buy a basil plant at the supermarket instead of cut herbs?
2. Grow a few herbs in pots (who can kill mint anyway!)?
3. Look at your tiny suburban lawn and imagine the possibilities?
4. Plant the first seed?
5. Identify the first pest? (And the second, and third...)
6. Harvest the first crop to actually eat something you grew?

Today, I completed #6. Of course, you can barely see the lettuce under all the CSA veggies (radishes and English shelling peas) and other goodies I piled on there... but it's there! 

I have to admit though, I was almost defeated.  By nearly microscopic green bugs. See, over the weekend, I tried to snip some lettuce for a lunch salad.  I did snip some, actually, only to notice once I got inside that parts of it were moving (several of them up my arm!).  I tried to blast them off under the sink spray, but they were stuck tight... and there were loads of them.

In an effort not to poison us, I am trying to avoid pesticide use in my garden.  But there is absolutely NO chance I am going to eat lettuce covered in green bugs, no matter how organic it is.  So, I found some "insecticidal soap" for organic gardening, and gave them a good spray.  A couple days and a thorough wash later, we have salad. Bug free! (OK, so there were just a few holes in the leaves...)

So what do you think: when do you become a gardener?  (I'm waiting for my secret decoder ring...)

Comments

[Jess]

Welcome to the club! We've been munching on home-grown lettuce for the past week or 2, and it's truly amazing how much better it tastes. I get so depressed when we have to go back to buying veggies in the store ...

[Kiki]

I had the same thought process! I garden, but dare I call myself a gardener? Hmm...

Aphids are so gross-- I think it's that they attack in the thousands! No pests yet this year (holding my breath!) but I think that's because I've finally accepted that I shouldn't kill spiders who live peacefully outdoors. Eww! There sure are some gnarly-looking ones living among my plants!