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necessary. A leaky hose wrapped with old stockings makes an excellent soaker. Watering isn't necessary every day, in fact, often it's better for plants to sink roots to gather their water.

A true lazy gardener should be satisfied with what he has, and not what he wishes he has. This means generally you'll have to sacrifice some diversity in your produce. Yes, this means a lot of onions, radishes, and tomatoes, however, I've had success with little effort with green peppers. Corn takes a lot of effort to cultivate, too much for the lazy gardener.

There's something about tomatoes, though. It's been my experience that the more tomatoes you plant, the more you get. I don't mean this in the simple mathematical sense. It seems tomatoes thrives on a tight-knit community. When I planted a long row of tomatoes, I really got the tomatoes, and had done almost nothing to support them, other than an occasional watering.

There was almost no end to the other fruit of the vine. When my first crop came in, I rendered my first fruits to the Lord; i.e., my minister and his family got them. Days later, I divvied them up among my family, my coworkers, and myself. Then my friends. Then people pretending to be my friends. Then people I didn't like. I even let the squirrels take a few.

Before I knew it, I had more and more tomatoes, and no one wanted them anymore. And they kept coming. So, tomatoes just seem to want to grow themselves.

Finally, it's easy to be a lazy gardener, but it's more rewarding to not be one. In fact, working, really working, once saved me from a Saturday night of suburban sloth. I planned on eating at the most convenient burger trough, then screening whichever mediocre movie was playing at that time. But then I noticed my garden needed a little weeding. Watering followed weeding. I broke ground for a new row of corn. It became too dark to continue, so I washed up. I ate a healthy meal of a turkey sandwich and a side dish of fresh radishes. I read a good book while soaking in the tub, and finally went to bed, fully satisfied in an evening well spent at home, with a little piece of land and a lot of peace of mind.

Learn more about this author, John Oystein.
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