Wow, I sure didn't have time to post here all during the season! Oh well. I'm gonna keep trying next year.
In the meantime it's time to take stock of the season just past. I don't think I've ever been completely satisfied -- in 15 years of gardening -- with the harvest. If the winter squash does great, the tomatoes or peppers dribble in; if the kale is overwhelming in its abundance, the spinach never germinates; if the fall weather is fabulous, the brussels sprouts were drowned by weeds and never made it past July.
Of course this comes with the territory, and I eventually figured it out and (mostly) accept it. This year saw all of the above happen, so I have done some complaining about the tomatoes, spinach and brussels sprouts, but I'm trying to focus on the positive. The positive being a fabulous crop of acorn and butternut squash, kale that could feed 20, the prettiest bok choy ever, and a basil crop that I finally was able to really use (instead of watch it destroyed with the first frost).
Now it's time for a long winter's nap. Sorta. The first seed catalog came over the weekend, so I reckon I've got some planning to do! hehe
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Vacation Gardening
Why is it so many people want to invite you to weddings and parties and dinner and concerts in May? We've been having a great time at lots of May events, but what about the garden?
Ah, the dedication of a gardener knows no bounds! Right? The only way to get my garden chores done was to take a week of vacation to do it. And I'm happy to report that my karma was right: the weather cooperated with beautiful, hot, sunny weather all week, I didn't get any major injuries, and nobody dropped in to thwart my plans for any of the days.
I used to pay attention to the established tradition of having all veggies planted by Memorial Day, but the stress of doing that finally got to me and I gave it up. Now I rationalize that our season is longer, thanks to global warming, and that I actually have all of September for growing. (Those of you who understand global warming no doubt are shaking your heads at my irrational assumptions, but hey -- it saves me a few years of stress to lie to myself this way, so leave me alone!)
So what did I do that whole week? Well, I'd already planted the broccoli, peas, and cabbages. But here's what I planted my week off:
Mike chose not to take vacation with me, but he'd tilled another bed the first weekend, and that's where next I planted the snap peas (two rows), kale, and bok choy around Monday. Tuesday I planted the long row of snow peas (it's in a partly shaded bed, so hopefully it'll be cooler and more like early spring), and I started the beans that day as well. I finished them Wednesday, then put in the zukes and radishes nearby, since the beans didn't completely fill the bed.
Wednesday was time for the onions -- yellow, red, and white sets. And carrots. I'm excited about carrots this year, since I ordered and planted red and purple varieties along with my standard Sweetness II and Scarlet Nantes. I also found a spot (finally!) for the beets and turnips.
And finally Thursday found me planting the fennel and brussels sprouts. That final crop was a killer, though. I needed to till the bed, and the tiller just would not behave. The completely bent wheels don't help, but one of them finally broke off, which meant that the only way to make the tiller work was to pull it backwards. I had to stop at the end of each row, huffing and puffing over the energy exerted. Then, on the fourth row, the handle bar jumped out of its slot and banged the spark plug cover, which popped off the plug and immediately shut down the engine. After a break and a beer, I picked up the shovel and tilled the bed the old-fashioned way: I dug it up. But it worked and I finished the brussels sprouts.
Ah, the dedication of a gardener knows no bounds! Right? The only way to get my garden chores done was to take a week of vacation to do it. And I'm happy to report that my karma was right: the weather cooperated with beautiful, hot, sunny weather all week, I didn't get any major injuries, and nobody dropped in to thwart my plans for any of the days.
I used to pay attention to the established tradition of having all veggies planted by Memorial Day, but the stress of doing that finally got to me and I gave it up. Now I rationalize that our season is longer, thanks to global warming, and that I actually have all of September for growing. (Those of you who understand global warming no doubt are shaking your heads at my irrational assumptions, but hey -- it saves me a few years of stress to lie to myself this way, so leave me alone!)
So what did I do that whole week? Well, I'd already planted the broccoli, peas, and cabbages. But here's what I planted my week off:
- snap peas and snow peas
- beans
- carrots, turnips, beets, and fennel
- brussels sprouts
- kale and bok choy
- cilantro, dill, and cukes
- potatoes and onions
Mike chose not to take vacation with me, but he'd tilled another bed the first weekend, and that's where next I planted the snap peas (two rows), kale, and bok choy around Monday. Tuesday I planted the long row of snow peas (it's in a partly shaded bed, so hopefully it'll be cooler and more like early spring), and I started the beans that day as well. I finished them Wednesday, then put in the zukes and radishes nearby, since the beans didn't completely fill the bed.
Wednesday was time for the onions -- yellow, red, and white sets. And carrots. I'm excited about carrots this year, since I ordered and planted red and purple varieties along with my standard Sweetness II and Scarlet Nantes. I also found a spot (finally!) for the beets and turnips.
And finally Thursday found me planting the fennel and brussels sprouts. That final crop was a killer, though. I needed to till the bed, and the tiller just would not behave. The completely bent wheels don't help, but one of them finally broke off, which meant that the only way to make the tiller work was to pull it backwards. I had to stop at the end of each row, huffing and puffing over the energy exerted. Then, on the fourth row, the handle bar jumped out of its slot and banged the spark plug cover, which popped off the plug and immediately shut down the engine. After a break and a beer, I picked up the shovel and tilled the bed the old-fashioned way: I dug it up. But it worked and I finished the brussels sprouts.
Monday, May 14, 2007
The May Scramble
It's officially mid-May, and the scramble is on! How on earth anyone with a full-time job can put in a garden by Memorial Day has always eluded me. It's just impossible to get it all done!
It's a catch-22. I'm so busy harvesting in the fall that I never clean up the beds. Which means they're a mess by the time spring arrives: dead leaves, old stalks, sometimes stakes and plastic mulch, and weeds out the wazoo. So the first thing to do in spring is clean up the beds. One at a time.
This past weekend I actually got peas, cabbage, and broccoli planted, and frankly even that small amount does wonders for my sense of accomplishment. It seems that I'm prone to see the glass half-empty, so I've been trying in the last couple years to focus on what I've got done than what's still left to do.
So let's focus: The peas -- Green Arrow and Dual -- and the pea fence are in. The cabbages -- Gonzales and Dynamo -- are happy in the dirt in front of the broccoli -- Packman and Waltham. the garlic I planted last fall, but a few stray cloves came up in the old bed, so I moved them to the new one, just for kicks. Mike's tilled the potato bed, and the bed for kale, bok choy, swiss chard, and spinach is cleared of weeds.
And then there's the occasional weeding and futzing in the flower beds (still focusing). They're not completely cleaned up, but the tulips out front look lovely right now. The daffodils and narcissus in the butterfly garden were a good idea last fall, actually, as was the mulching Mike did on top of them.
It's a catch-22. I'm so busy harvesting in the fall that I never clean up the beds. Which means they're a mess by the time spring arrives: dead leaves, old stalks, sometimes stakes and plastic mulch, and weeds out the wazoo. So the first thing to do in spring is clean up the beds. One at a time.
This past weekend I actually got peas, cabbage, and broccoli planted, and frankly even that small amount does wonders for my sense of accomplishment. It seems that I'm prone to see the glass half-empty, so I've been trying in the last couple years to focus on what I've got done than what's still left to do.
So let's focus: The peas -- Green Arrow and Dual -- and the pea fence are in. The cabbages -- Gonzales and Dynamo -- are happy in the dirt in front of the broccoli -- Packman and Waltham. the garlic I planted last fall, but a few stray cloves came up in the old bed, so I moved them to the new one, just for kicks. Mike's tilled the potato bed, and the bed for kale, bok choy, swiss chard, and spinach is cleared of weeds.
And then there's the occasional weeding and futzing in the flower beds (still focusing). They're not completely cleaned up, but the tulips out front look lovely right now. The daffodils and narcissus in the butterfly garden were a good idea last fall, actually, as was the mulching Mike did on top of them.
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