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Off-Topic: It's Summer Harvest Time!

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: September 9, 2024

As many of you know, I love to try and grow vegetables. For many years, I failed miserably. Nothing went right. I grew the wrong varieties for our climate. I grew the wrong strains that didn't fit in my little garden. I was so bad that I almost gave up.

Then, one night I was out to dinner with a friend. I explained my farming horror stories to her. She looked at me and said, "Do you use compost? If not, you gotta try it." So, that's exactly what I did. It has now been two summers since I started using compost. The results have been downright wonderful.

As you can see above and below, my little garden is now yielding bunches of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and more. Given the heat here in Los Angeles, my wife and I have been making a lot of gazpacho soup and salsa.

Roma, Cherry and Celebrity Tomatoes

This season... I am probably most happy by the fact that, for the first time, I have actually grown an edible pepper. For the past few years, all of my peppers were disfigured and tasted gross. However, this summer we have jalapeños, serrano, red and yellow peppers.

Last, but not least... Robyn loves figs. So, late last year, I planted a small fig tree. The timing was not ideal given all the rain that we had in Southern California during the winter. But, this tiny little tree is actually starting to yield these unbelievable figs. :)

I'm definitely no green thumb. However, I have really enjoyed learning all the details and intricacies of growing vegetables (and now fruit). That said, I will continue to learn and continue to... Compost!!!

Keep on tickin,
Adam

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Written by Adam Pick
Patient & Website Founder

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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