This Year's Gardens: Episode 2

 Just 11 days ago,  I posted that I was way behind on this year's gardens.

Not anymore.

Despite all the hurdles, including the weather, and despite the major stresses on available tine in this house (moving a Symphony office is not for the fainthearted), Warren got both gardens tilled and I got them planted.

The kitchen garden, on the backside of our house and right off the patio, got planted first. 

The kitchen garden

You may note that in addition to the tomatoes cages, other plants are also caged. That is because the Bunny Brigade already moved through and chewed down the cauliflower I had put in. (Note: when I watered this morning, I saw that the cauliflower was rebounding.) 

The bare dirt has been sowed with basil and lettuce (and flowers in the back, which is the far right of this photo). 

I also put cages, not for protection but for climbing, around the Trail of Tears pole beans, heritage seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. They are almost ready to start climbing up.

Seed Savers Exchange is located in Decorah, Iowa, a mere 90 miles south of Rochester. It is a non-profit dedicated to saving and making available heritage seeds. I will be back at the Emerald City in June for a very short visit; we have one day free and we are talking about taking an excursion just to see the farm and the center.

Warren tilled the Hej garden Monday evening.  Before he started, we talked about what I intended to plant: much less than last year. So why not till a smaller garden this year? What a great idea! He started tilling before I came on out and that gave me the perspective (physical and emotional) to point out where it looked best to stop the garden: several feet shorter than in years past. Warren fenced it in and I started planting. Zucchini, some cabbages, the remaining broccoli. I may (may) plant some Trail of Tears beans back there, but I am not sure yet. As you can tell, there is plenty of room even with the shorter dimensions.

The Hej garden, complete with anti-rabbit fencing

I went out this morning to water both gardens, and was thrilled to note that the fencing on the Hej garden has kept the Bunny Brigade away. Nothing was chewed down to the ground. Dare I get my hopes up? 

I have spiderwort planted in the front bed and a bed along the rear of the house. A native species, spiderwort is a rapacious and aggressive colonizer. I have not thinned it out (and may not until the fall); I love the color it brings. Not to mention the bees, who are already working away. There is nothing like walking by the spiderwort bed and hearing it hum.

One of the hummers

That alone tells me it is going to be a good summer. 

This Year's Gardens: Part 1

It is mid-May and I am just now starting the 2023 gardens. Why so late? Oh, the list goes on forever.

We had a late, cold spring, for starters. There were some days of high temperatures here and there, including in February, but there was also frost later into the spring. Not to mention snow. Yes, snow. So weather played a big role.

The schedule overload in this house, especially on the Symphony front, has been intense and immense for weeks. Although I am not Symphony staff, I am married to the Symphony. We had one guest artist staying with us for the season-ending concert, so there were some preparations there on the home front. And in addition to being the Executive Director and the orchestra's timpanist, Warren also was a guest artist this concert, so there was a lot going on. A. Lot. And that doesn't count the incredible Link Up concert for 4th graders this week (three days after the aforementioned season finale) or the other major Symphony matters that have occupied this household for the last many weeks.  

 And while I kept thinking of gardening, my energy levels were depleted and I. Just. Could. Not. Do. It. 

Several weekends ago, I did a very rough weeding of the kitchen garden. It was full of purple dead nettle and hairy bittercress, and I weeded it by hand, in two two-hour blocks of time. A few weekends ago, I did a very, very rough weeding of the Hej garden, removing the dandelions, thistles, and other large strays that I could see. (The Hej garden has been covered in a deep layer of leaves all winter. I am not sure what is lurking underneath.)

This Tuesday, I finally got to a local (the very best local, in my opinion) garden center where I always buy my starter plants. Before going, I looked in my gardening notebook to see what I had written last season about my purchases and their successes. The one thing that popped up repeatedly was "too many tomatoes." I reined myself in greatly on the tomato front. That took tremendous willpower, but I managed. I also gave a few of my plants (one pepper and two tomatoes) to my dad, who smiled and said that he thought he "might" be able to manage those. (Dad will turn 90 this August and he is slowing down.)

My purchases from Miller's Country Gardens, waiting patiently to be planted.  

In previous years,  I have started some seeds inside, usually by late April. As noted above, it is mid-May. Guess what I spent an hour doing this morning?

Zucchini, mostly

Although the weather has been cool, I am not sure we have enough cool days left to plant lettuce and see any results before it gets too hot. I may seed some of the intended lettuce bed and then hold the rest of the seed for late summer. 

It rained steadily for several hours this morning and it is too wet to head into the gardens today. I want to till the kitchen garden and get the basil sowed soon. We need to buy more fencing for the Hej garden before I plant it so we do not have a repeat of last year's Bunny Buffet back there. There is still a lot (A. Lot.) on the Symphony front through July 4, but I think (or else am wildly blind to my own limitations), I can do most of what I want and need to do without relying on Warren. 

The 2023 gardens are off and running! (Or, more realistically, walking at a slow pace, but hoping to pick up speed as time goes on.)