Garden 2007

July 15, 2007 - The Garden Speaks Up

I just don't even know where to begin. I guess I should feel lucky to even be here at all, after what She said last spring ("I don't really think I want a Garden this year!"), but fortunately He ignored her. One day, while She was running around - looking like she'd swallowed a watermelon, no less - following that Little Lord Two Feet, He spread some Mulch and some Manure (oh, Nitrogen, how I missed you!) with the Roto-Tiller. Have you ever had a spot that you just couldn't scratch, and them someone came along and scratched it for you? Roto-Tilling is like that. Ahhhh . . .

Before the watermelon came out (She calls it "Erin" now - it looks like another one of those Little Two Feets, maybe a Little Lady Two Feet even), I felt sure they'd both forgotten me. But He remembered. A Garden needs more than dirt and Nitrogen, a Garden needs PLANTS! And none of those sad little seedlings that whither and die before I can even get 'em started. Nice big ones, from a real greenhouse. Tomatoes and Cucumbers and Peppers and Zucchini. Yum. Just in time for summer.

And what a summer! No Big Barky Four Feets, this year - love that new fencing! Little Lord Two Feet can't even climb it yet. Grow, my pretty little plants, GROW!

Bugs are a bit of a bummer, some of 'em. Squash bugs - I would banish thee, if only I knew how. "Organic" ain't easy. (Ha.)

For all that you gave me (and it wasn't much, believe me), this is what I give you back:

• Zucchini - a few good ones, not so many as you'd get sick of 'em, but enough
• Tomatoes - just kicking in! Woo hoo! Love those "volunteers" from last year - cherry tomatoes and then some.
• Peppers - who would have guessed? Maybe you just weren't asking me the right way all those other years you tried to grow them.
• Cukes - funny little ones, big fat ones, little spiky ones, all kind of mixed together
• Chard - only thems and I know who's really eating it, and thems not telling

And that's it - you didn't plant much this year, not pushing your luck I suspect - a few little basil plants thrown in as an after thought, and the celery that just won't go away.

Well, just keep that water coming and I'll see what I can do for you. Oh, the things I have in store!

Previous Gardens

Garden 2006

June 12, 2006

Shortly after Memorial Day, we were delighted to find a yellow squash AND a zucchini ripe for picking. Years past have also given us early hope of a successful crop, only to see the squash bugs triumph, the plants wither, and our hopes deflate. We made sure to enjoy every last bit of those first fruit, in case they were our last. Three weeks later, and another dose of insecticidal soap, I now understand why people back home used to anonymously leave zucchini on their neighbor's doorsteps in the middle of the night. This scenario is the perfect example of "be careful what you wish for." Fortunately, Alek likes the grilled squash (thanks to Grandpa Joe, who taught us how to cut them in convenient grill-shaped wedges) and the zucchini bread (thanks to the chocolate chips).

The rest of the garden is coming along. I gave up on the peas - the rabbits, or squirrels, or something got most of them, and the rest are too few to bother with. Eight tomato plants survived to a two-foot adolescence and are growing strong, and I've got 18 more cherry tomato plants in the greenhouse waiting for space in the garden. We ate a salad with lettuce and cucumbers (and celery from two years ago that keeps coming back), all from the garden. All the peppers survived transplant a few weeks ago, and aren't really thriving yet, but haven't died yet, either. The dill and cilantro are getting a little less wispy every day, and we might just get some new lettuce. The spinach, as usual, withered and shriveled and disappeared shortly after sprouting. I think it's just too hot.

April 30, 2006

Well, I need to recreate history. I seem to have lost at least one entry here, and the other one I never got around to writing in the first place. Around the second week in March I finally planted seeds: tomatos (San Marzino and Better Boy or something like that), peppers (hot and sweet), squash (green and yellow), cucumbers (two varieties), basil (three or four varieties), and sage. The greenhouse was amazing; everything thrived. We never got around to figuring out the temperature fluctuations, except for heating it at night and leaving the door open during the day. Erik got it all wired for electricity and drip irrigation, and as soon as it warmed up enough to leave the doors open all the time, it became an almost self-sustaining garden emporium. About two weeks ago I repotted the cucumbers and squash because they were doing so well, and last weekend I put them in the ground. I put the tomatos in the ground today - they were not quite root-bound, but were solid enough to replant. Coriander, dill, lettuce, and spinach went straight in the ground - it's either too late or too early for the greens, but I'll try anyway. Now all I've got left in the greenhouse is the herbs, plus some oregano and parsley I started two weeks ago, plus a flat of cherry tomatos I just planted today. I don't think I've gotten any better at this over the years, but I've sure got better technology now, and that has made all the difference. So far. Squash bugs, watch out, I'm going after you next - I'd really like more than one zucchini this year (I know, I know, be careful what you wish for).

Meanwhile, the rest of the yard is getting its spring cleaning too. I bought my year's supply of new plants in two hours yesterday, between Lowe's (impatiens, a geranium, a fern, some pretty little accent fuzzy things) and Humphries (some shade plants, verbena, creeping jenny, and a lot of things I don't know the name of - mostly for the perrenial bed out front, and with the intention of starting a new shade garden on the west side of the house). Erik spent the day clearing out room for the shade bed, until the roto-tiller broke (we couldn't find the manual, probably lost it in the fire, but a very helpful neighbor suggested looking on-line, and sure enough, it was there).

March 2, 2006

Let me start off by saying I'm already behind: as usual I have not yet started planting seedlings. But let's focus on the positive: Erik has built a self-supporting, solar-powered, micro-climate-controlled plant incubation facility that some might call merely a "greenhouse", despite the complete failure of that term to convey the engineering marvel that is now erected in our backyard. We still have a few logistical issues to resolve, such as temperature control (right now, the structure gets as hot as 108 degrees during the day and yet still manages to cool down to ambient temperature - still below freezing - at night). We'd love to get our hands on some deuterium, but will have to settle for the next best thing when it comes to heat capacity: water. Lots of it. In fact, if we wanted to do a hydroponic garden, we could turn the whole thing into a swimming pool and the problem would be solved. For now, we're collecting and filling buckets and trying to come up with a more elegant and space-efficient solution. Of course, by the time we figure anything out, it will be past the frost zone and a simple solar-powered fan will solve all our problems. At which time, I'll get around to planting seedlings, because right now, I can't imagine finding room for them in the house. All we need is one more source of dirt for Alek to try ingesting.

Meanwhile, Erik has torn up last year's landscape fabric, spread some mulch we had lying around, and tilled the garden. We had some lettuces and spinach coming up from last year's batch, which sprouted a couple weeks ago and might even make us a salad or two. The turnip greens from last year have returned as well, and the catnip seems to have found a second wind. It might be time for some Round-Up again.

I'm planning on moving the herb garden to the bed (or rather, bed-to-be) in front of the greenhouse, since that's the area of our yard that gets the closest thing to full sun. We still have some sage, oregano, and parsely that wintered over on the deck in their pots. I'm already out of the dried Parsley/Oregano from last year, but the frozen basil pesto has lasted the season.

We have the seeds, we have the flats, we have the motivation . . . now we just need the time.