April 28, 2017
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Looking to Plant
Time
To till
Turn black dirt
Bury the seed
Fertilize for growth
Consult the stars for rain
Young plants push green through earth’s crust
Search for the sun reach for the light
Grow despite human interference
Thrive and bear fruit in the cycle of lifeThis is an etheree. The etheree is a syllabic form consisting of 10 lines. The first line is a single syllable and each consecutive line has an additional syllable resulting in the last line having 10 syllables. There is no requirement for rhyme.
Spring is truly here. That means that it is time to plant the garden. According to my coworker Mr. Fudd, the sweet peas should be planted the Monday after Easter and the lettuce and spinach as soon as there are 3 consecutive days with temperatures in the 50s. He has already tilled and has started planting. He will put his tomatoes in on the Saturday before Mother's day. He was telling me all about the various vegetable he is planting this year. Corn next to the house to try to keep the raccoons out of it, pole beans, peas, potatoes, spinach, kale, cabbage, cucumbers and zucchini. He is giving up on beets since his area is infested with some insect that burrows into the beets rendering them worthless. Same for the carrots. Sparky is going to plant tomatoes and squash and zucchini in the raised bed. I will again get a couple basil plants and maybe some parsley. Sparky reworked the area along the south side off the house and is going to plant beans and peas in that spot. It seems to me that the fussing doesn't really do anything. I think he'd have better luck with the "benign neglect" approach to gardening. That is provide a little water if it doesn't rain and shoo the varmints away and then leave the plants alone. Seems to work well for the farmer's fields...
Comments (10)
One spring, many years ago, I planted a small (read 'tiny' -- 8 feet square!) garden with tomatoes, eggplant, green peppers, zucchini, and lettuce of 2 or 3 types. I then made chutneys, jams, and many main dishes of all the veggies! It was a great experiment, and I learned a little about gardening. The next year I moved, and have not had a good plot to plant since then.
You can always do container gardening. We had 2 half whiskey barrels on our patio for years. Sparky grew tomatoes and peppers for many years - until he decided to make a real garden...
I love fresh raw peas (the old fashioned kind that you have to take out of the pod. They seem to be hard to grow and not very popular anymore. I probably won't try to grow any veggies, but maybe some herbs.
Peas aren't hard to grow except you need to have something for them to climb on - and of course they are a favorite of the rabbits. Last year the rabbits and woodchucks bit them off at ground level... Had to replant and managed a few pods to harvest. This year they are going into the raised bed so that may make it harder to get to.
I have some wild raspberries growing in my yard, but that's about it.
I love raspberries. They bring back memories of picking and eating them as we wandered the fields as kids. The wild black raspberries grew along all the fence rows surrounding the farmer's fields...
That does work in the farmer's fields.
I think they use weed killer in large amounts. The most important thing I like to plant is tomatoes. I LOVE fresh tomatoes! So happy for spring. It is a wonderful thing.
Tomatoes seem to be an easy and prolific vegetable to plant. I'm guessing Sparky will be getting cherry tomatoes and maybe some Roma. We haven't had success with the Beefsteak varieties - not enough sun in the backyard...
@ata_grandma: I still like the peas in the pod. Now I buy them.
@mcbery: I buy mine from a lady who lives a bit north of here. I've forgotten her name. Year before last she called me when they were ready. She may have called me last year , but I was in the hospital. Hope she calls this year as I've forgotten her name. She's the only one I know of who raises and sells them around here. I think she lives a bit NE of 15 and 6.