garden

there’s a space under the magnolia that’s sheltered by the vetch-covered dirtpile. to enclose it more, i’ve used twine and the branch to make a support for peas. i can’t wait for the grotto to get more grotto-y.

Ouro helped me measure and draw most of the yard, so i have a template to draw from. This retaining wall project is going to really reshape the space & force new chicken confinements to come into being.

I’m going to have the contractors tear out the concrete pad that was once a garage: that’s where the trees will go. I’ll have to try to rehab the soil over the winter with a cover crop and good wishes. Then it gets an almond and a plum, two goumi, a russian olive, and two pomegranates. Yeah, more trees is what this property needs. That grapevine will have to move… i hope they are forgiving.

In researching amaranth, i identified one of our weeds as related: pigweed. Man, i can’t imagine how to go about threshing that, unless it’s “stick it in a paper bag and agitate.” But the grain amaranth will prbably be more amenable to a threshing process.

I am happy because i have tomato plants growing; i have not succeeded in this since i grew cherry tomatoes in hanging pots at the top of the back stairs in Northampton. The strawberries, transplanted to the front, are glad they’re not being terrorized by the chickens anymore and have humbly offered their protectors three delicious strawberries.

A row of arugula! Several rows of spinach! Two or three sprouts that will be lemon cucumbers, and three plants that i can’t remember – were they squash or melon? Squash, i think. No sprouts yet from the cilantro or the caraway. I try not to hope too much with this backyard bed, as it’s always possible something will get past the fencing and wreck it.
Peas showing their heads. (I know it’s late to be planting them; i hope they survive.) You know about the back-formation of the singular? That’s right, peas preceded the pea.
And sprouts finally starting to show that might be borage or calendula. I make wishes for the okra that i planted because it’s so pretty. Can’t say i know much about cooking it, being a northerner, but i can be inventive if need arises.

The aronia bushes have leaves growing. The apples may or may not even be alive. It is so hard to say. Daffodils are flowering; i wondered what i’d planted (it’s hard to know with scavenged bulbs!)

In the kitchen, there are summer savory sprouts looking tender and tiny. In the nook, i planted fenugreek seeds on a lark (a little in the food, a little in this plant) and they’re growing happily. Not sure what i’ll do with that.

the boundaries of the gardenable space are in flux because we don’t have a retaining wall to keep our yard inside the fence and because of les poules…

but i do have 2 aronia bushes and 2 dwarf columnar apples trees, and 10 asparagus crowns, all from raintree – all ready for homes.

several weeks ago i turned the beds over and planted some wintery greens and garlic.

the chickens learned that they can fly into the side yard, and the beds which used to be heaped three inches above ground are now spread flush with the ground. little sprouts are appearing off to the sides, and i don’t know if they’re beets or bok choy, but the grass in this green wet season will surely choke them.

the girls don’t like my gardening aspirations.

She got too much from the generous freecycler.

So, while we were digging postholes for the hops ropes, i dug a coupla new plots. We’ll run chicken wire across the posts at the west end of the side yard and theoretically the chickens won’t dig them up.

Today i rescued eight pumpkin sprouts from the compost heap. They’re in pots on the porch; i’ll probably give most of them away since i’m already planning on growing delicata squash (which is far far yummier than pumpin, and a much more manageable size to use).

I was away for a week and left the egg cartons of seeds under tender care. Looks like a couple of chamomile sprouts came up but got fried on a hot day – there are more, there are more.

One of the sweet pea seeds has sprouted. All four varieties of hops have shown their heads and the Cascades are starting to climb. The row of garlic cloves i planted is marked by brave green spears.

And it rains!

Oh, the onions are sprouting! And they are darling. It took them long enough. I am afraid i won’t be able to feed them enough, since the compost isn’t finished and soil amendments are too heavy to carry from wherever on foot. All i have are bottles of houseplant food that i inherited from various friends who moved away. Who knows what crazy chemicals are in them! But the greens of onions are just as edible…

I shored up the downhill side of one of the hops mounds with broken concrete pulled from the yard. I think some previous resident used rubble for fill; digging here is crazy. The mound looks great, but the work was hard, and i didn’t have time to do the other three (it’ll take rock-hunting and lugging).

While it’s not strictly gardening, the arborist came to fix up the big old cedar in the front yard (not really an urban tree, but what can you do?). It looks so much better, and the front yard is now walkable, but i had hoped he’d leave the shipped remains behind. I can use mulch!

It seems too warm for it to be february.

The chickens dig up anything i dig up.

I put some potatoes out and covered them with fencing, but the chickens got in under the fencing and took dust baths.

There’s a tiny little plot that i fenced with brambles and planted with greens this winter, but the slugs ate the greens. It’s mulched with straw right now and i’m not sure what i’ll put there.

There are some radishes sprouting in egg cartons on windowsills, and another carton that may or may not sprout with onions. Pots on the porch have sweet pea seeds planted in them and twine for the plants to grow up (and to keep the pots from blowing away).

I have a little hardy kiwi plant that i need to build a trellis for. I don’t know if it’s male or female. I’m envisioning the trellis as an entry to the sideyard/hopyard. The hops themselves aren’t showing their heads yet. I’m afraid their rough treatment at the claws of the chickens may have discouraged them; i mulched them with care after taking them down in the winter and came home to find the chickens had gotten over my hasty fencing and spread the mulch as far as it could go.

I also scattered johnny jump up seeds all over the yard in a fanciful dream of little purple heads. Not expecting much from that.