Don't Forget to Water the Baby!

Our neighbor is this little 60-ish Chinese man named Fong (at least we think that's what he said when he introduced himself). He barely speaks English and his wife doesn't speak English at all. He doesn't work; I know this because after I told him where I worked and asked what he did, he goes, "Ha ha ha, no one hire me!" He lives in a fairly large house though so we think he must have been pretty wealthy in his country before he immigrated to the US and now he's just retired. 

Anyway, this guy has like the magic touch when it comes to growing things. His backyard garden is incredible: tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of flowers, everything you can imagine. Here's a picture but it really doesn't do it justice because this is only a fraction of it and there's a brick wall between our houses so I had to sneak the camera over the wall to get the picture (yes, I'm a nosy neighbor): 

All along the wall he has planters with I don't even know what growing in them too. He's out there at least a few hours a day planting, building trellises, and watering. But the crown jewel of his garden is something he planted on the other side of both our fences (on city property, haha). It's a winter squash plant, we finally figured out, and he planted it less than two months ago. In that time it has grown at least 20 feet in both directions and we have been amazed watching it. It seems like every morning we wake up and look out there and it has grown another foot. This picture doesn't really do it justice either because there's no way to show the length of the thing or get the whole thing in the picture for that matter:

Just trust me when I say this thing is a freak of nature. It goes even farther in the other direction. I am simply amazed at people who can grow things. This is what we "grow":

Succulents! Succulents are my friends because they are happy when I remember to water them but won't die on me when I don't. My thumb could not be any blacker. I either water way too often or don't water at all, and I never plant things where they should be. I'm just starting to learn that location matters when it comes to growing things; but that doesn't mean I pay attention to that when I plant them. I put plants where I need foliage, not where they will get the proper amount of sunlight/shade, etc.

This is one thing I really wish I was better at. I am in awe of people who can grow gardens or flowers. This is what it looks like when I attempt anything other than succulents:

Yes, I still have this hanging in our yard, even though it looks like this, because I'm still hoping for it to come back to life each time I remember to water it. Hey, there's one little flower still on it :)

I just hope my utter inability to keep a plant alive isn't an indication of my future parenting skills. At least a baby can cry to let me know when it needs something, right? Maybe I should take a gardening class in preparation for child-rearing just in case.