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June 10, 2007
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Well, so-so would be the answer to that.
Lettuce: success. Three rows of very happy, tasty mesclun mix. Although I didn't get any radiccio, and I seem to have some weird, spindly parsley-looking thing that's not mentioned on the seed packet.
Spinach: Not exactly failure, but certainly not success. I don't think it likes the clay soil. I got one row of kinda sad-looking greens. I'm wondering if there are male and female plants; there are some that grew flower heads and some that didn't, and some with pointier leaves and some with more rounded leaves.
The greens
Success: [so far] peas and cucumbers. The peas have started growing noticeably from day to day. I put in a little stake-and-string trellis for them yesterday, and today the little feelers are touching the first row of string already. The cucumbers were quick out of the gate as well, but I'm seeing some little buggies on the stems. I hope they get through it, as Lilybug can talk of nothing but her cucumbers.
Jury is still out: tomatoes. I bought a flat of 5 (was supposed to be 6, but the runt didn't make it) tomato plants for $1.25 at Menard's yesterday. I have always taken pity on the runt of the litter, hoping I could nurse it back to health, and plants are no exception. Which, if I were a true hunter-gatherer, would doubtless mean my own demise. But in the case of cultivated tomatoes I had nothing to lose. The plants seem to be hardy, if a little under-loved. We'll see how they do.
So not bad for my first summer of real gardening. I may expand the beds again for next year, we'll see. And I would almost be able to call my garden "organic;" however I have been partaking liberally of the city's free compost, and one just has no idea what is in there. You tend to find things like bits of plastic bag, bottle caps, and the occasional roofing nail. My own compost pile is pretty happy. I turned it over yesterday and found masses of big, fat earthworms and nice black organic sludge. I should have enough of my own compost next spring to fertilize the two garden plots I have now.
As for flower gardening, I also have a mixed card. I did a hanging planter of dahlias and some sort of ivy yesterday, though I'm afraid it won't get enough sun where I've hung it. The canna lilies are coming up, but I only see 5 of the 10 I planted. The poppies are a complete no-show. Next year I may try sunflowers in the side yard. Happiest are the overgrown wild things in the yard; the daylilies, mint, lilies of the valley, and other unidentified blooms. The raspberries, chives, and native clematis I've added to the mix seem to be happily hanging out as well. The lazy, lazy gardener in me likes these things that just take care of themselves. Happy almost-summer, everyone.
