How's Things With YOU? ~ Midsummer Status Update 2011

The last 2-3 years, my beloved vegetable garden has really not produced anything. Why? Well, i have a large perennial garden, i have my Creative Castings nature art business that i can only work on in the warm season and have to keep up inventory for the summer art/craft shows, plus i worked full time with only 2 weeks of vacation. It was fine without the art stuff, but that takes up a lot of hours, about as much as a part time job! Yes, i do love it, it just takes up time, time that i could be using to plant, weed, and water. 

This year is a little different; i decided to cut the art shows to one per month, plus i have one more week of vacation. So the garden looks a LITTLE better.



Cherokee Purple Tomato Plant

Things ARE behind, such as the tomato plants that are just starting to look like anything, plus a couple of things didn't germinate, my cucumbers and zucchini were planted late and were slow to come up, so they're both about 6 in. tall



Squash on the left; cukes on the right



 (i have faith in them, though, especially the zucchini - i expect to have many to give away, if it goes as zucchini usually goes!). Just planted bush beans VERY late (where the other seeds did not come up), but there should be plenty of time for them to mature. PLUS, after a horribly wet May, downpours every day or two.....My spousal unit and i agreed back then that we would probably in a drought situation come August. Well, by June it stopped raining, and as of this writing we have been completely without rain for 3 weeks, and the few showers before that did not amount to more that a tenth of an inch - so we're DRY! It's a pain to have to water daily, but i try to look at the bright side - few weeds and few mosquitoes! If you garden or farm, one thing is certain - you can water constantly, but it never has the same effect as one good rain! Plants will look 3 times larger the day after a rain, but so will the weeds! After a couple of good mid summer rains is usually when the weeds overtake the garden so much that i can't keep up, and if i DO have time to weed in the evenings, the 'skeeters won't allow me to! So, yes, i have to water, but i control it, so it's not all bad!

i have also rediscovered old fashioned gardening ~ that is, I have a tiller, and sprinklers to hook up to the garden hose, and all kinds of garden gadgets (remember THIS thing?)

but this season i've just been tending the garden quietly, watering with a watering can, hand picking the weeds or hoeing them, and mulching, reconnecting intimately with the garden soil. So, a slightly more relaxed season so far...

*****Late news flash ~ we DID just manage to get about an inch of rain two days ago, so that helped a bit!******

My Garden Interview - Part 1

***i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....***

Q: How did you become a gardener?

N: First of all, i need to point out that it was never really a conscious decision to "go forth and garden!"

i never knew my grandparents on my father's side, but i do know they were avid gardeners, so i'm thinking i had it "in my blood", since i sure as heck know it wasn't thru my parents! They didn't even like to be outside! i think Mom took me to the park several times when i was young,

and they liked to sit out on the porch in the evenings in warm weather, and THAT was probably only because we didn't have air conditioning back then, and it was the only way to stay cool! We had a fairly large and swampy back yard- (this is the Black Swamp area, after all) , but except

for some hideous foundation plantings of evergreens, one Poplar tree, one rose bush and one white Spirea, that's all there was in the whole area! Being an only child with few neighbor children, i spent many long

days in that backyard on my own, getting hundreds of mosquito bites and black bare feet from the muddy yard - how i didn't end up with Hepatitis or some '60's equivalent of the West Nile virus is beyond me.

Anyway, we were visiting my uncle's house one summer day, and my cousin and i walked into one of the farm fields surrounding their property. She told me that they knew the owners of the fields, and that they were

allowed to pick some of the produce out of the fields if they wanted (whether that was true or not, i never really knew...Being 12 and very naive, i didn't question it ). She picked a tomato right off the vine

and handed it to me, and actually had to instruct me to eat it right there, as i just looked at it for a second - i had only seen tomatoes in salads before that (yes, i had an extremely sheltered childhood!). When i bit into that beautifully ripe, warm tomato, standing in the middle of

that field, that experience it was so awesome that i had an epiphany of sorts - and actually changed the course of my life! i did not immediately know what to do about this new feeling, but within about 2 years, i had a small vegetable garden plot in our backyard.

i did have somewhat of a social life in my late teens, so of course with other things on my mind, i didn't have as much time to garden. Until after i was married - and for a few years we lived in an apartment, so except for the 40 or so houseplants i acquired, i did not do much gardening. i tried to keep my plot going at my parents' house, but they wanted to stay inside when i was there and expected me to sit inside and visit with them! So that was not feasible for very long.

CONTINUED SOON

The Princess And The Cherry Tree

Once upon a time, in the northern Land Of The Five Lakes, a tree seed found a lovely spot in which to start its life, and began to grow. It just happened to be the land belonging to the Monarch and the Princess. (You may recall the Royal Wars in the land of literary works of fantasy many years ago, when the King was banished and the Monarch's rule began).

The Princess, who was known to nurture much flora and fauna, happened upon the young tree one day and was pleased. The little seedling, as it grew older, had small peach sized leaves, panicles of white flowers in Spring, beautiful bark, and golden leaves in the Autumn. It was an unknown type to the Princess, but she was sure it was a tree of petite ornamental heritage that just happened to find her lands. As a season or two passed, the Princess inquired of her royal clan (The Masters of the Garden) as to what tree it might be, but they could not answer. She even inquired of the magic PC (Prophet Creature) who also could not answer.

 

So the tree stayed, and grew. And grew. And then, as it matured, it proceeded to send thousands of progeny down upon the royal lands to create a small forest of its own kind, which began to displease the Princess. Finally, one day, the magic Prophet Creature revealed to her that the tree was not only a Cherry tree, but a BLACK Cherry tree, which was a duplicitous and evil life form!

The Princess informed the Monarch that she wished for the tree to be removed before it and its progeny invaded the royal gardens any further. Their many subjects

 

 

 

 

 

   

agreed.

The Monarch, wishing to keep tranquility in the Castle, also agreed and proceeded to remove the large branches one at a time. The task is not yet completed as of this day... 

 

The Moral of this story - Beware of evil beings that disguise themselves as alluringly beautiful ~ by the time you realize what is happening, it may be almost too late! (And your Royal Spouse may threaten to "crown" you!lol)
THE END