Roamed Far, Returned Home, Stronger Now. June 30, 2008

It’s all in the title: the story of me. Merlot told her story and then asked me to tell mine, so I came up with the most loaded sentence I have ever written. Packed! I found it very satisfying to condense everything down to the essential. Makes me wonder what every person I know would come up with. So…

I’m totally breaking the rules. Partly a matter of necessity — I’m slow on the uptake and pretty sure every blogger I read has already done this, or already means to do this — but it’s mostly because I really want to read what some of my oldest and most creatively employed friends will write. This is just the kind of exercise that will reveal delightful things about them. Problem is, almost none of them write public blogs (or do they? If you do, then you’re craftier’n I thought, that’s awesome, and please link to it below!). So I’ve asked them to leave their bios in the comments.

The upshot is, this tag dead-ends here. But I know it will still be fascinating to all involved because my friends and lover are fascinating.

Here’s one that relates specifically to why I began gardening (I swear, this haiku-esque structure makes everything profound):

Needed roots, made some, still growing.

Now I want to hear one (or more) from:

• Tracy (unfair, I know, because you’ll be traveling for the next like six weeks, but I say, better late than never)
• Nev
• Ana
• Nick
• Claudia
• Katie

…Please leave your wisdom in a comment. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

More Meditations on Pests and Scourges June 22, 2008

You know, I just wasn’t as observant of my garden last year. Already I have noticed a host of insects — pests and otherwise — that must have been present last summer, but that I just didn’t notice or care to identify. The main reason for this: I was in no state, mentally or physically or schedually, to quietly ponder the garden. (Around this time last year, we discovered we would be having a baby, I quit my gallery job in a blind rage, I started temping full-time, and we moved across town. Listed in order from least premeditated to most.)

Thank the stars for my current, more placid pace of life and increased mindfulness. I can make more time for gardening. But there’s also something about having a baby that’s contributing to my fervor — I give a hoot about many more things, organic gardening included. I really care if it works out, almost as much as I care if Obama wins. Like I told my good friend Claudia, as we were comparing notes on child rearing and world changing, “Ack, idealism rampant! I want the world to be a better place, now!!” From trekking down to the primary polls, to consciously considering where my food comes from, to actually growing my own.

Goddamn, I’m getting preachy. So anyway. I have this weird new relationship with garden pests. I respect them a lot more, I pause to actually study them, but I’m also a lot more willing to do violence towards them. And I can’t believe how many different ones there are to scrimmage. In the past month I have pinched off dozens of flea beetles, sprayed dead a slew of whiteflies, and subjected a slug to some unpleasantries. I found myself cheering on a wolf spider that I saw skulking around one of the plots. Go, eat them. I’m currently trying to figure out whether spider mites are a bad thing and how to keep cucumber beetles under control.

About sticking it to those cuke beetles. This is an experiment that hasn’t worked yet, I think because it’s rained so much recently. But what it is is a manila envelope (I needed something yellow to draw them in) covered with a mixture of clove powder (also to draw them in) and molasses (to trap them). No luck yet, as I said, because it’s basically been rained to snot. I give this technique advance points for thrift, though.

I’m also really getting into compost teas. Didn’t give a whit about feeding my plants last year, didn’t think I needed to, thought doing nothing was the organic way, but this year I want produce. I have a batch of tea brewing on my balcony. I didn’t have the patience to wait a couple weeks for it to be ready, though, so I also made a quick batch from worm castings. The poo’s in the pantyhose in the water:

And the plants went, ahhhh. I have got to farm worms this winter. So to speak.

Comfrey tea went on the ‘matoes yesterday. They look no better or worse. Still ominous amounts of brown and yellow foliage.

Regeneration, Creeping Evil June 20, 2008

The peas have staged a full-on comeback and are now blooming. I can’t believe these things survived, let alone have the gumption to flower and, possibly, fruit. I believe in regeneration now.

…Which is why I’m very carefully tending the tomatoes in Vineplot. They have begun flowering, too, but then, several days ago, something evil hit them — I hope it’s just a little collateral damage from the soapy whitefly scrimmage; however, it might be a case of blight. Fungus. And with that, “It’s go time.” I’m serious. I hopped to it. I’ve let cases of indigestion go longer. In the last three days I have:

• Doused them with milky water, twice.
• Tracked down comfrey to brew them a nutritious batch of comfrey tea. (It took a couple hours and three locations, but I now have a comfrey plant and a jar of its leaves soaking.)
• Watered my Brandywines (which are in a separate plot) with a prophylactic dose of chamomile.
• Basically taken an impromptu course in Organic Soil Improvement Methods.

Gayla Trail tells me, in that book she wrote for me (You Grow Girl), that milk is an antifungal wonder-juice for tomatoes, chamomile is a good fungus preventative, and comfrey tea is like Carnation Instant Breakfast for vegetable plants: a pack of minerals.

Cripes, it had all better work. Those tomato plants hold a lot of my time and effort and I want those heirloom fruits. At the risk of spoiling that soil for next year, I don’t have the heart to pull them up. I want them saved. I hope it’s possible?

Then, walking home yesterday evening, I came upon the largest spider that I have ever seen outside of a zoo. In this picture, it is a tad smaller than life-size.

I thought it might be an escaped tarantula. Called Neville outside to snap photos of it and came to discover it’s a native “fisher spider.” Lives on lakes, streams, or rivers, like the one just down the ridge. Walks on water. Walks on water. I believe in biological miracles. Come on, tomatoes.

Brandywines! And heavy on the updates June 16, 2008

I lucked into six Brandywine ‘mato starts from my neighbor Susan. What a windfall! I’m so excited. It has taken me several days to transplant all of them, mostly working at night, frequently in the rain, enjoying getting really dirty (good therapy, almost as good as watching Freya schmeer herself with food). I think I have saved them all, but I’m not sure if they’re all big enough to produce in our short season. The last and smallest to go in was one I did last night and am keeping on the balcony. Hey, junior!

I weeded my arse off in my Firstplot. You know the drill: Before, After:

The PEAS are COMING BACK after being decimated. They have even survived me moving them around in the name of prettification. I might have peas this year, after all; not enough for Freya to eat, really, but all I want is to taste one. In the plot now: Peas (Progress and Snap Daddy), Brandywines, basil, sad Romaine, dill, bell peppers, carrots.

I’m turning against the grid. That twine is just ugly, and I really enjoy planting more free-form. Dude! Eventually it will be a thing of wild beauty. More like Vineplot. Speaking of. High drama there. From one day to the next, whitefly infestation. I got quick and I got lucky: First, target practice with a spray bottle of water; then I doused the plants with soapy water; then, that night, it rained, washing away potentially damaging soap residue. Today I say it’s a full success…let’s hope it stays that way. Whiteflies a real prob hereabouts. I have read that nasturtiums deter ‘em?

Also, the tomatillos are fruiting, zucchinis are up, and there’s a carpet of lettuces and basil popping up everywhere. It’s all so vibrant and satisfying.