Next year, Ethan will be able to toddle around the garden with me, digging holes and generally entertaining himself. So I've been getting ready for next spring. Having a baby in September of last year meant that the garden never did get "put to bed" in 2007. There were dead garden plants and weeds everywhere. Not to mention gobs of grasshoppers, which I recently learned thrive in messy, weedy garden plots. Earlier this fall, I got out and cleaned up the mess. Then last week, Alexander and I weeded one corner and planted lots of garlic.
This week, we finally managed to get the tiller from my parents' house (thanks solely to my father -- thanks Dad!) Firmin tilled up everything but the garlic patch yesterday before dinner. After dinner, I worked like a maniac until after dark, picking out as many quackgrass rhizomes as I could -- a whole wheelbarrow full, and there are still more than I want to think about left in the garden! Those plants play to win.
Today, I gave the kids the day off from homeschooling so that they could help me get the composted manure in and plant the cover crop (field peas and fava beans). A trip to Lowes for the manure put Ethan to sleep, so we were able to work uninterupted by him. Brianna and Alexander were incredibly helpful and we got the work done in about an hour.
Here's what it looks like now:
It's not much to look at, but my garden has never been so nice and clean in the fall! I think I'll add some straw or mulched leaves when I can get some. This isn't the final look, however, as the cover crop will come up and cover the plot during the winter, fixing nitrogen into the soil and discouraging weeds.It feels good to get back to the soil. It feels good to work hard and see progress. It feels good to share this endeavor as a family, each of us doing our part to provide some portion of our own food. It feels worth every minute.
It also feels small. I'm starting to gently work on Firmin (because I'll definently need his help) about putting a large plot further back on our property. I'd like to grow quantities of bigger crops -- squash, melon, potatoes, corn -- that I don't have room for now. But that would entail breaking a lot of sod and building a good fence to keep out the many critters (including deer) that inhabit our urban "nature oasis" back there. Getting it set up would be a project for next summer, with planting beginning next fall at the earliest. I'll let you know how it goes. Those of you who know Firmin can help me butter him up! You know -- what a great husband he is, how nice our land is, how it would be perfect for a big garden, how educational it would be for the kids, etc., etc. ;o)
2 comments:
I can't wait to get a garden again. Esp for peas. I love sugar snap peas, well raw ones anyway, and I usually plant lots.
Not sure if I will get one next year at the new house, we have loads of room for a nice big garden, but have to figure out where to put it. It will take quite a while to get our yard straightened out and in decent shape.
Yours looks great, nice and big too! I say YES to getting an additional one (or were you planning on just moving to a larger one?)! There are natural ways to keep the critters out. Ivory soap or human hair for deer, cayenne pepper for bugs and such. I have info on it in my organic gardening books.
Yes, Fran, it would be an additional plot. I'd still put herbs, tomatoes, peppers and other smaller plants that I often want to grab quickly for a meal in the existing plot right beside the house. I suppose I might have to rotate sometimes for the health of the soil, but for the most part, I'd have the bigger stuff out back.
The natural deterrents work fine for the garden by the house, but this other plot would be quite a ways back and behind the garage -- out of view of the house. Our deer (and other critters) are pretty numerous and quite bold, so I think a fence will probably end up being the easiest way to go. We tried soap and hair to keep the deer away from our new apple trees this year and it didn't work. We ended up with an all natural spray-on product that did work, but it was a pain. A fence is more cost and work up front, but then you're done, kwim?
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