Garden Musings

The seeds have been planted, seedlings have poked their heads out of the soil and have begun their journey into yummy fruits and veggies!  A very exciting time for any gardener as they eagerly anticipate the day when the potential of seed culminates in a hardy plant, destined to become mature.  Being that this is our first year growing a large garden I had wondered what obstacles would be faced with new soil, weather and a large plot.  I am used to square foot gardening with the "perfect" formula of soil, weedless in it's inception and easily accessible for tending.  Not quite the case here.

First of all, the soil although rich due to fantastic horse manure, also brought with it dormant weed seeds that have also taken up residence with the hardy heirloom plants.  A compatible pair that sprouted up simultaneously making distinction between the two quite the challenge at first.  Almost like they were in conscious competition to see who could grow the fastest and determined to make my workload impossible.

After deciding to wage war on weeds, I began the day long task of bending and pulling.  Memories of my mother filled my mind remembering her through many seasons bent over for hours...days...months.  You could have just as easily recognized her from the backside during  those many summers.

Then it dawned on me after making piles of  these knee-high weeds, that these things (which I still can not identify) looked a little Swiss cheesy.  The bugs seemed to be having a grand ol' dinner out of them, but then I also noticed once I cleared them away from the shy veggies that they were.... untouched.  Hmmm.

See the holes?

I had planted a few Marigolds, some Calendula and a few other herbs around the garden edges hoping these would grow to control the pests naturally.  Never imagining that these rather ugly and out of control weeds would actually serve as the main pest deterrent!  This amazing discovery soon led me to the next conclusion...YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE ALL THE WEEDS.  Whew!  What a relief.  So, I continued removing the weeds around the plants to give ample light and nutrients, but then decided to leave the rest for the bugs.  I feared clearing too much might leave them hungry and then turn on my plants, yikes!  We shall see if this theory proves correct.

Notice no holes on the cantaloupe.

Gasp!  I know you perfectionist gardeners are probably cringing at the thought of leaving a carpet of weeds in your picturesque garden.  At first it was a tough idea for me to swallow, but then I had to think realistically about my time and goals.  I am a natural gardener, but I have very little time to devote to daily picking on this vast level.  So, I rationalized that if the weeds are healthy for my garden AND save me time, then it's a win-win relationship.  Whoo hoo!  Thankfully, since we're out in the country no one will complain about my less than manicured garden.  The picked weeds along with grass clippings we collect in our bagger also serve as organic mulch for smothering the growing weeds.  I've also used some newspaper under the clippings to help snuff them out.  Straw and pine needles are other great and usually FREE mulches.

A sea o' weeds!

The next big surprise, while I was clearing out around the radish and carrot area, were these HUGE radishes bubbling out of the ground!  I suppose it was a had-to-be-there-moment, but I quietly performed a happy jig right in the midst.  The taste...fantastic, not too hot and not at all woody.

William likes to "help".

This six gallon bucket half-filled!

So here's a little show case of a few of the items popping up.

Green leaf lettuce, kale, Swiss chard.

Squash and poll beans planted together as the Indians did.  Hopefully, the pole beans will grow up the corn stalks.  Also, a few strawberry plants bearing their fruit.

Pretty little thang!

Compost...my best friend.  We began the pile about a year ago and it's now broken down into black gold.  Fixtures on my counter top are compost bucket and bird scrap pail.  For compost we mix eggs shells, produce scraps, tea bags, pine bedding with manure from the chickens, grass clippings and weeds.  No meat or grain products though (that's birdie food...the grains, I mean).

Since the pile is quite large now,  Joe puts ol' Gertie (tractor) to the task of turning it over every once in a while.  Compost is the secret to a healthy growing medium for any garden.

Very cool trellises for my EIGHTEEN cherry tomato plants.  Our kids love these small, sweet and colorful delights.  One variety red and the other yellow pear.   I recently pruned the suckers of each plant to make sure plenty of sunlight was getting inside the plants.  Hopefully, we'll be inundated with these little treats soon.

Also, making their debut are cucumbers, rhubarb, butternut squash, watermelon and cantaloupe.

My favorite garden though is the little herb area.  Hard to believe that in another month or two they will look like bushes.  Can't wait to begin the drying process and try my hand at making some medicinal tinctures that I've always purchased in the past.  Uh oh!  Sounds like a herb tutorial coming soon!  :)

As I was pondering this winter on the layout of the gardens, my first thought was to have the herb garden close to the house so I could access them easily.  However, after dealing with digging dogs and children who sometimes step off the porch into the beds, I knew that my herbs would quickly become trodden down.  The front beds then became the repository for a few flowers.  I obviously rank my herbs way above the flowers!

Zinnia, Hosta, Verbena and candy-dot Lantana will eventually fill these beds with some much needed color.  If you look closely, the beds are not mulched (yet), but the weeds that are picked are left in the soil to decay and add nutrients back into the soil.  Rather ugly at first but in several days will turn brown and blend into the dirt.

It's such fun to be working in the dirt and truly a miracle to witness the plants as they grow.  As a kid I couldn't understand why my grandfather would always send my parents pictures of his gardens at varying stages, thinking they were utterly boring, well except for the cool sunflowers.  Now, what I wouldn't give to spend time talking to him about his experiences.

As the summer unfolds and the vegetation ripens there will be lots of blackberry and raspberry picking, garden tending, freezing, dehydrating and canning. We're looking forward to a vacation soon before these demands keep us local for an extended duration.  It doesn't feel like work though because the joys of producing for our family bring such satisfying rewards.