Doggy disaster

Today I put in some lettuce ,cabbage,spinach, and Brussels sprouts. I was going to grow my own by seed as I have done in past years, but time got away from me. At least I bought locally grown plants, so I am still gmo free.

The planting went fine, but my little herb garden near the kitchen door had a sudden death . My huge rosemary plant bit the dust, done in by our dog, who persisted in peeing on it. I did not fence off the herbs, because they are near our back porch, which said doggie uses as a refuge from the sun. He is only forgiven because he is a good hunter of rabbits, voles, and guards the garden vigorously. ( don't worry, he is mostly preventative).  Why he doesn't kill off the jungle of weeds along our fence is a mystery.

So I am on the lookout for a large container to heave onto the porch for a new rosemary bush, and some other herbs. An old wheelbarrow is the prime candidate, if I can figure out drainage. Gardening, at least the way I do it, is much like improvisation. Luckily, there are many much wiser people than I who provide knowledge from their years of experience and prevent most disasters. The dog is not their fault.

Is Moses around?

The TV has actually mentioned an upcoming garden disaster-in-the-making. Apparently,we are due for a 17 year cycle of  locusts (somebody call Moses) in the northeast. ....I don't know what chemical gardeners are doing, but I am getting prepared the natural way.

I am making some more of my own row covers. Get some half inch PVC pipe, and saw it into 3 sections (or whatever length will get you even pieces with no waste). Then, get some 3/4 inch PVC
these are pretty cheap already cut into two inch long pieces). Then placing the end of a thiner long piece inside the bigger short one, drill a hole through both big enough for any size bolt you have around. Repeat for the other side.

Pound the short pieces across from each other along your beds or rows, and insert one end of a long piece, fasten it in. Wth the bolt. Gently bend the pipe  to form a semi circle and bold down the other end.

I use sheer fabric curtains I get from goodwill to form the covers,using the arches as support. I hold them in place with some simple clips. You can uses clear plastic over the arches to warm up the soil in early spring,too.

 Give it a try.

Morning light

Today is a "day off," which means like most people I will be running around like the proverbial headless chicken. I did take a few minutes this morning to revel in the cooler air (we have had a weird warm streak of 80 degree days), and walk in the wet grass in my bare feet. If I can figure out how to do it on this pad thing, I will send you a photo of my garden its present state of chaos. I don't know if this is encouraging or not, since as you will hopefully see, there is an enormous amount of work to do. But this weekend's weather is predicted to cooperate, so I look forward to two blissful days scratching in the mud.
I am not an A type of person, so it might be easier for me than for some to let go of the pressure of expectations, and be content with whatever gardening efforts I manage to eek out of my limited schedule. Not to mention I need to do something about the growing dust balls under my bed. Ooo. There goes that pressure again. It's a good thing I spotted that daffodil this morning...

Garden philosophizing

Today I received some asparagus tubers from my daughter's next door neighbor. A busy doctor, he still has time for square foot gardening  (look it up ). He kindly sends over some asparagus tubers,knowing I have a garden. Not for nothin' , but I believe gardening increases the sprit of generosity within us. As we garden, we discover our own helplessness in the face of nature, our ability to cooperate with it as we can (organic,organic,organic), and, if we persist, an eventual harvest,both in food and in spirit.

Onions and other miracles

Today I have been in the garden,clearing and de-weeding. The onions I planted last year never onion-ed, but they survived the winter somehow, and look like the little onion sets that the garden centers are selling right about now. So I am digging them up, separating them gently, and re-planting them in between some sugar snap pea seeds. I have no idea if this will work. I guess I will research the idea soon, to see if I did something close to correct. The few hours I had this morning are not wasted in any case, since the sun is shining,birds are singing, and the miracle that is spring doesn't care one wit if I goofed or not.