This Year's Gardens, Part 4

The globe thistle is sprouting! 

 

While the weather is still making up its mind as to whether it is really, truly Spring, we are certainly having more days pointing that way. Looking at my garden journal from last year, it was May 15 before I planted most of the garden, although I was already eating lettuce from some volunteers in the prior year's patch (none this year). Getting the beds ready and watching the seeds inside certainly make sense this time of year.

And the seeds inside, at least most of them, have not disappointed. The globe thistle I gathered from the bed down the street? It came up in profusion in three of the four cartons. And the zucchini has gone wild in its little greenhouse; I am hoping I can keep it reined in there before getting it into the garden outside. Worst case scenario, I will up-pot them into empty yogurt containers to hold them for another week or so. (The western scrub sunflowers? Nothing. Nothing.)

And the zucchini! 

The tiller

I spent much of April 22 and some of April 23 doing a hard weeding by hand of the kitchen garden. It wasn't until April 23 that I finally got my electric tiller unboxed and put together.  That was easy enough. Using it, however, was (still is) a learning curve. I got better as I tilled longer, but clearly I am a novice. I did the kitchen garden, the smaller of the two, with Warren offering suggestions from time to time.  

Yesterday was warm and sunny and windy. Warren suggested that we both take a break from the household demands and till the Hej garden, the larger garden. It had been Concert Week and we were both on overload all week. I was exhausted and not feeling well, and the tears came rushing up. "I can't till today," I said. "There just isn't enough of me."

"No, I'll till," said Warren. "You can direct and help with the smaller things."

 The Hej garden was a mess; I had only cleaned it roughly last fall. The open compost bins built by the previous owners needed structural attention; Warren and Dave (who owns the property) spent some time discussing those issues. The open compost bin also contains a commercial plastic one, which Warren dug out and turned so it could be used. (Oooh, a compost bin! My own compost!) Then he turned to the tilling of the garden.

The Hej garden is larger. It is also a much wetter garden because of its location (on a downslope) and drainage issues that weren't there years ago. The soil was heavy and dark. After a few attempts with the tiller, its blades were caked with mud and weeds. 

The Hej Garden Before

Warren was undeterred. He got his mower out and mowed the weeds down, then brought out the yard de-thatcher/scarifier he bought late last year. It too soon had its share of mud and weeds clogging it, but he got it through the garden.

Warren bringing in the heavy equipment

As for me, I took up and cleaned off the bricks that delineate the two unfenced sides of the garden. And, no surprise, unclogged the blades of the tiller and the de-thatcher. I'll put the bricks back in place after we finish tilling. I'm glad Warren stuck with me and encouraged me to come out to the garden, stepping in where my physical capacity was lacking. I was tired when we came in, but delighted by the time in the sun and the dirt and the smell of green. 

Pulling up the bricks until all the tilling is done. That's my glove, not a detached hand.

By Saturday after next, my goal is to get a load of compost for both gardens and get it tilled in. That will be May 14, which puts me on track with last year. During that week, I will go to my local farm market and buy plants. And somewhere in there I will take the tiller out to my dad's house and help him till a small garden.

For now, though, the garden tilling is started. 

The Kitchen Garden

The Hej Garden After 

When I talked with my son Ben yesterday, we talked about their garden plans. He said they were planting "only one" zucchini plant this year, but lots of tomatoes. Like me, he and Alix discovered that the best tomatoes are the ones from the garden. He said they would not plant peppers this year; they had concluded that their homegrown ones were not superior to the store ones, and were a lot more work. He mentioned there would be herbs in the garden.

Unlike Ben, I will plants lots of zucchini. We are just finishing our 2021 stash in the freezer. We will have basil, but I don't grow other herbs. Pesto is one thing; dealing with the other herbs is another. And while I noted in my 2021 garden notes that I would plant "fewer" tomatoes this summer, my resolve is weakening as I think of the joy of a fresh tomato. 

Time will tell.