It occurred to me that while I have posted photos of various parts of and plants in my garden, I had not actually shown you the whole garden in its entirety. This proves to be surprisingly difficult to do, but this is my best effort.See, it's laid out in a kind of backwards "L." On the right you can see part of the sheep barn that A. built with his own little hands (okay, so they're actually kind of large and bulky) out of all recycled materials. Because we're green like that. And cheap.
You can see the red plastic in which the tomatoes are planted. All 24 of them. I have GOT to stop planting tomatoes. I think it's out of hand entirely. But many of them are sporting flowers, which means little tomatoes should be appearing any day now. My babies are growing up. And I can't wait to eat them. Wait, that didn't sound right.
The potato field takes up most of the long part of the "L." That's still a shitload of potatoes, and they have all been hilled. This is possibly my least favorite task in the garden. It's haaaard and it makes me tired and sweaty and very, very sore. But I am nothing if not a trooper, and I soldier on.
The white stuff you see is something called floating row cover. It's a light, sort of gauzy material that rests gently on top of plants, allowing in sunlight and water while protecting the plants from ravenous bunny rabbits. It's light enough that the plants just push it up as they grow. And the stupid employees at the garden center in Home Depot had never even heard of it, so we had to order it from a garden supply catalog. Honestly, I don't even know why I bother with that useless store.
This photo is a couple of weeks old, so everything is much bigger now. Especially the corn, which will shortly be blocking the view to the other side of the garden entirely. We planted the corn in the place where we tore the old turkey pen down, and apparently, corn really likes old turkey shit. How come they don't mention THAT in the seed catalogs?
My leeks never came up. I am very disappointed in them. But the rest of the garden is growing its little leafy heart out, because of all the nice rain we've been getting. I would also like to believe that the tremendous growth has something to do with the HOURS AND HOURS I spend out there weeding with hands and hoe (yes, hahaha, hoe--go back to 5th grade you juvenile delinquents). But it's probably just the rain.
Now if you will excuse me, I must go and rest now. The MiL and I went out to get some Culture last night in the form of a regional production of Les Miserables (guys who played Javert and Marius--LOVE; guy who played Jean Valjean--not so much), so I didn't get to bed until 11:30 p.m. This is shockingly late for me, and I now feel as if I've been up all night.
Hmmm, expounding on my garden at great length and bitching about being up past 9 p.m. Holy shit, I am OLD.
10 comments:
I'm so envious of your garden. And the fact that you're going back to bed right now.
Drew, you underestimate me. I did indeed read "In Defense of Food." Mostly. I don't like the author much and I find him to be repetitive, so I sort of skipped around to glean the general premise. It was okay, but sometimes I think people really over-think what should be so simple.
I don't remember the emphasis on shit particularly though.
When I come out to visit, I hope you'll let me help in the garden. I don't have a yard in D.C., and I miss getting down and dirty.
interesting: you posted about your big, gorgeous garden (mine is 2 strands of cantaloupe vine and a potted tomato that will never bear fruit as it's 100 degrees out every day.) In contrast, I was considering posting a self-deprecating discussion (complete with photo) of my tiny, dirty dish-strewn kitchen!
ps: I dream of going to bed at 9, but my dedication to TV and late night cooking prevents it!
You said hoe...hahaha.
Your garden looks good! You are right about the rain and the endless weeding. I still have more to do but I don't have as big a garden as yours.
Kristin, I agree that he can be repetetive. I suspect that's because he's a journalist, and a lot of what's in the book was published over time in articles. As for over-thinking it, yeah it can seem that way when you're already growing your own vegetables and livestock. You do realize most Americans don't do that, don't you?
Wait Drew, you're telling me that there are people who DON'T have lambs cavorting around their yards and quarter acre gardens outside the door? Shocking. (You can pick up the heavy sarcasm here, right?)
Yes, I know we are very, very lucky to even have the chance to raise our own food. Though we might take it to an extreme that your average person is not willing to deal with. That's only because A. loves animals, the MiL loves plants, and we all, and most especially me, LOVE food. So for us, gardening and animal husbandry are less chores and more hobbies.
That is one impressive garden. We have a few admirable gardens around Mayberry and I've thought of photographing them for my blog like I do cute houses. I've always wanted a vegetable garden, but I've never wanted to garden. I love the idea, just not the work. I think I'll just live vicariously through yours.
Mayberry Magpie
Screw Whole Foods, people could go grocery shopping in your back yard. How would it be.
Maybe we can buy/trade some potatoes from you this fall? Mark has in a lovely garden that we're going to cold frame and winter over as much as possible, but potatoes (for whatever sad reason, mostly having to do with not having any seed catalogues come to our house) we have NO potatoes this year!
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