So much!

Have't posted in quite a while, but the garden has been in a bit of lull.  There has been rain nearly every day, until yesterday.  Rain somehow has a way of making gardening not as much fun.  However, April showers bring May peas.  So, thank god for the rain.

Once the sun came out, I got to work.  And SO much has changed in the garden.

I expanded the plot in my back yard by a couple of feet and made a rock and brick border.

What are those beautiful rows of green you ask;

Say hello to Arugula and Tatsoi - my two favorite cut greens.  This is what I could start to see germinating when I posted last.  They look a bit more established now and I was even able to weed and dig a bit in the dirt around them.  I could be wrong, but I think in a couple of weeks, I will be opening my back door and harvesting some fresh greens!

And these fine beauties are beets!  I am so excited about beets.  I seeded these the same day I seeded my arugula and tatsoi.  They have just begun to germinate - literally, overnight.  There was nothing here yesterday when I checked around 5 pm.  Maybe my beets are nocturnal or something.  But they are so gorgeous and itty bitty.  I can't wait.  

There is also some germination and growing happening inside;

SCALLIONS!!!  I am so excited.  I swear I could eat a bunch of scallions a day.  I am going to seed a second succession of these in another week so I can be absolutely certain there is a bunch of scallions on hand at all times.

Across the street, things are moving along.  I am starting to see peas germinate, which I was super worried about because the soil was so soggy when I planted them.  I worked out there yesterday with a fellow gardener.  She planted some lettuce and peas and I worked on a new walk way down the middle of my plot. I am using some reclaimed paving bricks from my back yard, toting them 9 to a bucket at a time - through the field, across the street and into the garden.  I think I have about two trips to go.  Oh!  I also seeded a second succession of arugula there yesterday and did a bit of weeding.  All in all, I think it looks great!

In closing, I have to say - I am loving this project more than I ever dreamed.  I thought it would be a lot like work, the way I remember gardening as a child, being asked to weed and hating it.  This go around, I am finding myself rushing home from work to play in my plot and waking up each morning excited to walk out the back door and find what's popping up, even if it is just a new weed to pull.  My friends might say I am slightly obsessed and I don't care!  I love this little garden!

Today's plan - build a compost area in my back yard and start drawing out the plan for the food bank plot - that's right....I am helping to organize the food bank/kindergarten plot in the community garden.  So excited!

Ready! Set! Germinate!

Today was the opening of the retail store and nursery at Project Native (my employer, maybe I didn't write about that before).  Anyways, we are now officially open for the season!  And with the opening, comes customers.

In and out all day.  Discussing the importance of native plants and pollinators.  Describing their gardens and lawns.  Deciding between this bee balm and that.  Lot's of talk about gardening.  Lot's of competitive talk amongst gardens and backyard homesteaders.  Whose got the most native, most diverse collection.  Naturalized versus native.  Who spent the most hours pulling invasive's, etc. etc.

As you know, I have been stressing about my own garden and it's success for several days.  I promised myself I would not peep under the reemay until exactly 7 days from sowing my seeds.  Up until today, I have upheld that promise, but as more and more customers bragged about their germinating arugula, the more tempted I was to have a peek or better yet, pull back the reemay for good and let the sun do some work on my bed.

I couldn't wait to get out of work today.  I flew out of the parking lot, down route 41 and up the hill to Monterey.  I didn't even stop to make my daily coop run for some unneeded grocery item.  I was barely in my driveway when the seatbelt came flying off.  I opened the door and nearly forgot to shut off the ignition.  Left everything in the car (so out of my routine) and flew up the stone steps up to my side yard and yanked back the reemay.

Dirt.  All I saw was dirt.  Wet, compact dirt.  No sign of green, other than the lingering blade of grass left behind from the previous weeks sod removal!  Feeling defeated, I sulked a bit as I neatly folded my reemay and went inside to continue on my normal daily routine.  Unpack and wash my lunch dishes.  Pour myself a cup of cold coffee left over from breakfast...

And then I thought, why not get on my hands and knees and do a bit more inspecting, just in case there's a tiny little germinated blade of something that I missed.

To my surprise, something had germinated and not just something, but basically everything!  Arugula, tatsoi, radishes and even my tray of lettuce and herbs in the house!  I think I did it!

Because they were so small, I couldn't photograph them, but I thought I would let you in on a couple of other home projects.....

To the left:  Raw sunflower seeds soaking.  I will wash and soak these three times then spread them out in a flat, cover with soil and in about 5-7 days will have sunflower seed sprouts for eating.  They are amazing!

To the right:  Ginger simple syrup.  Made this over the weekend with a friend by boiling sugar, water, raw ginger with some toasted anise seed, cardamom, and allspice. Mix a little with some freshly carbonated seltzer from my handy dandy seltzer machine and you have an amazing homemade ginger ale (kind of).

It's been raining since my last planting on Sunday.  Nothing has germinated.  The instructions on the seed packets said 7-10 days.  It's been two or three.  Don't those seeds know that I operate on an immediate gratification system?


Why is the success of this garden plot so important to me?  Maybe because I am dating a farmer and need to prove to her my ability to be as equally farm savvy - ridiculous, I know. Maybe I am obsessed with proving I learned something last season apprenticing at Drumlin Farm.  


Still, I  can't help by question my motivation.  I am single person.  I cook alone most nights of the week.  I am financially fortunate enough to be able to afford not only to shop at a local coop, but to be a member as well.  AND, my favorite past time is food shopping.  I swear I go every day.  I love to read labels and hunt for deals and steals. 


Why on earth would I go to the effort of growing my own food?  Why would anybody these days with the more than 38,000 products available at any given super market?  I would assume because vegetable gardening is about so much more than food access.

Ed Smith of The Vegetable Gardener's Bible said, "After all, Eden was garden... the garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life's most basic processes."

Gardening this season is bringing up so many things for me.  A need to prove a bit of independence - taking back my access to good quality food.  Standing up against the Industrial Food Complex.  Doing my part to reduce my consumption and contribution to the global economy. Proving that even in this ownership society, a renter can live off the land of the community.  

It's bringing back so many childhood memories of my father and grandfather's gardening and my grandmothers grand canning operation - making me feel more connected to those roots, the gardener/farmer/homesteader I believe I was born to be.  My grandparents generation was healthier than mine and they grew, consumed, processed and stored the majority of their own food.   And they lived without the modern conveniences of ipads and laptops.  And I think they lived better for that very reason.  This garden helps me to unplug from that type of technology and into a better relationship with myself, the land and this community.

This garden is also helping me to put down some roots, literally and figuratively.  I have never been in one place very long and I certainly never was in a place with any intention of staying there  - if only for that particular moment.  I am one who judges harshly where I am at and looks for the next newer shiny thing, almost instantly.  But just for today, this garden is perfect.  It's right where I need to be.  My spirit feels renewed and I am intimately connected with life's most basic processes - planting seeds, watching the rain feed the soil, knowing that one day - right here I am going to be enjoying some amazing veggies!

Plant first - Read Instructions Later

So, I made my way through the mud into the garden across the street this afternoon.  I told myself that if I were a real farmer, I wouldn't let a soggy little ground stop me, right?

I planted the seedlings I bought Friday;

Red Cabbage
Red Onion
Tuscano Kale
Cauliflower
Lettuce

This went pretty well.  It was wet, but the plugs seemed to appreciate it, soaking up the water and standing tall. This half of my plot was soggy, but not squishy.  I decided to do a little direct seeding here and seeded my carrots around where I plan to plant my tomato plants.

Then I decided to plant a couple rows of peas.  It's time and the pea season is so short, I wasn't willing to waste another day.  I dug my two trenches, 8" apart and 9' long.  The ground was super squishy.  When I stepped into it, I sank and stuck!  I ignored the squish and sowed my seeds, covered the trenches, packed up and came home.

THEN - I decided to research planting peas in wet soil.

I guess now I know - peas love nice dry soil.

SEEDS!!!

Yesterday morning I started early in the plot beside my house, direct seeding;

beets
arugula
tatsoi
leeks
swiss chard
radish

Rain was in the forecast, so after I got them in the ground, I covered the bed with reemay.   I used a little over 1/2 of the bed with the plan to plant another succession of arugula, tatsoi, and beets in a couple of weeks.

The rain came in later in the day then I expect and I am happy to report that I did not plant in the plot across the street.  I spent sometime turning the soil and edging the plot, but feared planting because the ground there was already pretty wet.  I kind of figured any additional rain would just be a wash out.

Instead I spent the afternoon with my friend Tricia seeding some herbs and lettuce in doors.

Now, we will just have to wait and see when we can get into the plot across the street.  The ground was saturated and soggy this morning on my "farm walk".   My neighbors plot is completely washed out and has a little stream running through it.  It's a shame, but thank goodness my plot seems to be in fairly good shape.

And I love living beside my community garden.  It's nice to be able to walk out in the early mornings, coffee in hand.  I am just curious how this is going to play out, as plants (and weeds!) start germinating.  I have barely begun this journey and I am already sleepless - tossing and turning over garden plans and seeds.

However, tossing and turning aside - I am having the time of my life.  I feel so fulfilled by this project, so at home and at peace - in the silent moments in the plot alone, just me and the worms working our way through the soil.  I feel like I belong here - a home coming.

Breaking Ground

Because one is too many and several are not enough....

I decided to have two garden plots; one at the community garden across the street and the other in the side yard of my home.  This is a view of my side yard at 5 pm today;

You can't see it, but I have staked off a 12' X 10" area to turn into a little cut greens bed.  But first, I had to get rid of the sod.  My property is up on a small hill with narrow, stone steps that lead you down to the road.  I had considered borrowing a friends tiller, but didn't want to think about how to get it up here.  So, I went at it with a shovel.

I took the sod out in strips, but was sure not to waste the already existing organic matter by getting down on my knees and knocking the dirt of the clods.

I have to tell you, when I was thinking the project into reality, I was a bit nervous.  I had never really done this before and all I heard about it, was that it was extremely labor intensive and back breaking.

Well, I am happy to say;

I didn't die, nor did I break my back!

It took about 2 hours to remove all the sod and I spent another half hour adding two cubic feet of compost, turning the soil and leveling everything off.

And now - I have this beautiful view of this beautiful dirt out my bedroom window!

Signed Agreement

Today I mailed my signed agreement and check for $25.00 to the "Friends of Wilson McLaughlin House, Inc." - the organizers of the Monterey Community Gardens, located across the street from my new home.  I am now the proud tenant of a 10' x 10' garden plot.

So, what do I do now?

I spent my day researching various plot plans and writing a list of all my favorite vegetables.  What did I want to grow and eat this year?  What to plant and how to maximize my harvest in New England's short growing season - made even shorter up here on my mountain (which is more like a big hill, but certainly a mountain to this coastal plains native).

I have to admit, that although I spent last season apprenticing under one the greatest farmers in Eastern Mass, I am nervous.  Did I learn anything about growing vegetables or was I just laboring swiftly from one project to another, not paying attention?  Am I going to be able to get things to germinate?  Will I have the patience to read seed packages and plant properly?  Will I make time on a regular basis for cultivation or will my little plot go to pot with the weeds?

It's a lot to think about.  Vegetable gardening is a huge commitment, but it is also a lot of fun.  I know this from experience and my experience also shows me that if I try, at least I have a chance.  I am trying to focus on my chances and opportunities and not my fear, doubt and insecurities.   Just need to concentrate on the effort and the fun and let go of some of my great expectations.

land - check
plan - check
seeds - check
attitude of gratitude - check and check