I GARDEN BECAUSE....

Friday, September 11, 2015

Zack and I were so proud of our corn patch. It grew up beautifully despite the odds, set back by a late start, a weedy early period, and a mere 5.5 hours of daily sun. We saw sweet ears of corn, perfectly formed; blackened silks to alert us to their ripened perfection. A priest visited, commenting on the privilege it would be to put water to the flame, pick ears of corn, and drop it in the pot to cook having lost not a single sugar to starch in the interim.
The next morning, our visions of greatness, hopes, dreams - they were dashed, chewed up, digested, gnawed away. The vile vermin of Heights alleyways! As if on cue, they were collectively possessed, compelled, all at once, to nibble and shred every last ear of sweet corn on every last stalk, leaving us absolutely nothing to enjoy but the wry commentary of Neighbors Randy and Mark.

Zack has taken up his pellet gun against the neighborhood squirrel population. It's genocide before us.

Potato Day

Potato Day in the Hansen garden is fun! Kids and Moms alike love the thrill of digging up tubers. This year our 5-6 potato plants yielded two good potato dinners. Hardly worth it.

NOTHING GOES BETTER WITH POTATOES THAN DELICIOUS GARDEN ONIONS

Saturday, August 8, 2015

FENCE DAY

Ben did this today:

The fence. No, those are not our Priuses. Priuii?

tangled native mess

The native garden, finally looking like a garden and not a weed patch. Still pretty weedy though.

I've been growing these since late February.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

It's Infectious, Until it Gets Too Hard

Neighbor Zack is a pretty great neighbor. He introduced himself right away to us as we moved in, offers all kinds of neighbor help, lets my kids tear through his yard... and even forgives me for the creeping charlie which has dominated my lawn and is poised to challenge his. He has not only tolerated my garden zeal but taken a bit of his own interest as well - he and his kids grow a thing or two in their dappled shade raised beds.

This year he approached me with an offer I couldn't refuse: to let him dig up my backest yard into a cornfield for us to share. Did I refuse? No, in fact I did not; and also did most of the work involved in cultivating, planting, and tending our little corn and pumpkin patch.

poof, now you see it.

The new garden is doing quite well, despite endless heckling from Neighbor Randy and Neighbor Mark. We have tall stalks and tassles, which are surprisingly beautiful; and what's more, pumpkins on the way.

ah yes, quite nice.

It pleases me to see less grass and I'm already plotting for the start of my restoration project next spring. Admittedly, though, for every square inch of sod I remove, I get six cubic inches of charlie. And what's more, pumpkin vines look like creeping charlie with elephantitis. It's a bit disturbing.