Mulish & Co.

You, Over There, Move To The Left!

I climbed into bed last night feeling hopeless as a gardener, a complete know nothing. I was trying to plan one of my last garden beds and realized that I didn't know which way to orient the rows - North/South or East/West. That wasn't so much the breaking point, that came later when I pulled out one of my many volumes of garden reference books and started reading about rotation.

I can forgive myself about the East/West uncertainty, it seems to be debatable even among the most seasoned gardeners but the rotation thing always throws me for a loop. Once I find something that works, I find it difficult to change it up. The spinach, for example. We have had marvelous spinach yields the past two to three years. My husband loves spinach. We wouldn't think of not planting it in the winter. After skimming the pages in the chapter about crop rotation I am afraid that one year, perhaps this year, we will have nothing come up, or anemic little wisps of spinach at best.

The seed of my doubt? How To Grow More Vegetables by Jeavons. Yeah, thanks a lot Jeavons. You can go now. Your work here is done.

My thoughts on the subject of bed/crop rotation are that I add fresh new turkey compost between plantings so I'm not really depleting the soil, am I? I DON'T KNOW!!! This is gardener angst that you are witnessing. I pulled out my DK (Dorlinging Kindersley) book on organic gardening to assuage my fears, it's the one with the really great photos - of everything. But it, too, has a section on crop rotation. I hardly know what I planted where in a 4x4 bed this week, let alone last year. How can I be expected to rotate?

I was just glad that the kohlrabi decided to come up because I wasn't sure if I planted it next to the bok choy or in the square above it. And don't get me started on companion planting. I'm afraid if I read that chapter I will tear everything up and start over.

My best counter attack to self-doubt is reminding myself what I do know. I know to direct sow carrots. I know that fish fertilizer works wonders, adds nitrogen to the soil and gives plants a good boost but takes about five or six days before a noticeable change can be seen, I know not to fertilize seedlings, I know the artichoke dies back but yes, it comes up again in cooler weather, I know to plant seeds in a depth that is roughly twice their diameter, I know to keep the new seedlings moist and to plant tomatoes early here in Texas (March or April).

I know that working in the garden can be cathartic or contemplative, physically difficult or simply repetitive. I know that the garden is living and responsive and a haven for the smallest sentient creatures, some you will never see but there, nonetheless, making an impact on what grows in the soil. Gardening is rewarding. Gardening is disappointing. It can be common ground for neighbors and bring them together. A garden can be the hub for a community.

Gardening is learning. It's learning things little by little each season, that makes the learning very slow. Gardening keeps me engaged. It keeps my mind and body active. I gives me something to share with others. Gardens make people smile and relax. Unless, of course, you bring up the dreaded topic of bed rotation.

And The Winner Is...

Bok Choy! Cotyledons have shot out of the soil after a mere three days of moisture and fresh air. The entire quadrant of the 4x4 raised bed is dotted with green. Three days. They were eager. The Golden Beets deserve an honorable mention. They aren't all up but I did see two or three little guys climbing out of the soil.

I was tempted to skip the watering today. It's not easy getting back into the swing of things. If you're feeling the same way and are tempted to skip the watering too, try to overcome it. You might lose all of your tender buttons. They're delicate and need your care. Try to remember that all of your hard work will soon be rewarded.

*****

I'm looking forward to trying this recipe: Miso-glased bok choy

The Helper

My newly amended beds have been...re-amended. This morning I found several deep impressions running lengthwise across the bed I saved for sugar peas, impressions that only thirty pounds of Beagle could make. At the end of the of the trail was the signature giveaway - the biggest turd in Turdtown.

The Hambone's Connected To the...say what?

Yesterday was such a long day that I was drunk-talking by the end of it. I sat down for a minute with one of the doctors and she asked about my knee. Why is it that I can't life my heel upward towards my butt?

"The physical therapist says it's because of the hambone graft."

She looked at me as though I'd said nothing unusual and continued the conversation.

"Did she really say that?"

"Uh-huh."

"That you had a hambone graft?"

"What? Wait, did I just say that?"

"Yes, and if that's what she told you, you should seriously think about finding a different physical therapist."

*Brought to you by The Society of Thoroughly Exhausted & Beleaguered Receptionists.

I WORK OUT WITH WOODY ALLEN! or Oh, Nevermind

Yesterday's all day gardening affair kicked my sorry gimpy butt. I can feel it in every muscle today. Each spadeful of soil, each stretch, each bend serves as a reminder. It's a good sort of ache but enough to make me reschedule my hour at *The Mangled Circus until tommorrow.

Last week, I saw a new member that bore a striking resemblance to Woody Allen. He was signing in at the front counter wearing a long sleeve button down shirt, his hefty glasses slid down his nose a little. I had to do a double take. The staff greeted hime with a hearty, "Good morning, Nelson!"

"Nelson looks like Woody Allen," I whispered to the PT.

"I don't see it."

"Really?"

Nelson came out of the men's room and had changed into a t-shirt and baggy pants. He had removed his glasses. It was as if he'd gone from Clark Kent to Superman, or vice versa. I'm sold on the power of eyewear as a disguise. Next time I step out at midnight to steal garden statuary from the neighbors, I'm definitely wearing different glasses. I had to admit to the PT that she was right, he looked nothing like Woody Allen when he stepped into the workout area.

I know it's not a substitute but I do believe that the all day activity and movement yesterday is beneficial to my rehab. I already have garden plans for next weekend - trellis assembly and pea planting. I might even make another shade cover for a 4x4 bed. Mortgage does put a damper on visits to the nursery. If it wasn't the early part of the month next week I can guarantee that I'd be buying more compost and getting the last bed whipped into shape. Trellis assembly will have to tide me over. And catalogue shopping.

*****

Garden Catalogue Shopping List:

• Softneck Garlic: toss up between Inchellum or Western Rose
• Chive seeds
• Sugar Snap Peas

 

*My Mangled Circus (MMC) = The group that assembles at the physical therapy facility that I visit. Generally speaking they are over 30 - 70 yrs old, very slow, unbalanced (physically). I make no claims of knowledge on their mental state. They use unfamiliar equipment and show their displeasure by emitting groaning, grunting and sighing sounds at regular intervals.

I Dig Fall

Day One of the fall gardening season was a smashing success. Other than the bok choy mishap (an entire open packet of bok choy seeds was dropped and spilled into one of the beds) I feel like I had a very productive day. We bought 6 bags of turkey compost and a small bag of dry molasses to amend the beds. Did you know that dry molasses and dried molasses are not the same thing? For gardening, if you aren't using diluted liquid molasses as a foliar spray, you use dry molasses which isn't molasses granules at at. Rather, it's dried grain, often soy meal; it's coated with molasses that is released when watered.

Dry molasses is used to stimulate beneficial organisms in the soil. It provides trace minerals and will accelerate your compost pile. And, for those of us in Texas, it's supposed to deter fire ants. I applied approximately 1/4 pound of dry molasses to each 4x4 bed and turned it under with the turkey compost. I direct sowed carrots, beets, kohlrabi and bok choy in two of the beds. That was all I had the energy for.

By the time I was done my knee was completely swollen. It was as big around as my thigh, giving the apearance that I lacked the damn joint altogther. The limb went from thigh to spindly little calf with no transition. I often think that it's best to keep moving, that movement can only be beneficial. The PT says to go slow and easy. If this is the party line, it may put a kink in my plan to develop an ACL rehab regimen for gardeners. Talk about a niche market!

I am exhausted in a good way. The hours spent in the garden were worth the swelling and moderate discomfort. I'll spend the week planning our largest and newest garden bed. It's roughly 8x10. We learned a lot about this bed over the summer. We learned about plant placement, how the sun travels, the  taller plants will need to go on one side so they do not shade the shorter ones that need a little sun too. Our basil needed to be replanted last spring because they were overshadowed by the tomatoes. I still need to plant our spinach, lettuce, brussels sprouts, and GARLIC!!! I think I see High Mowing order in my future.

And So It Begins...The Fall Garden

Tomorrow we start working on our fall garden. This is my all-time favorite garden season in Central Texas. We get so much food from our modest little beds that I can't justify not planting a fall garden. We'll grow carrots, beets, two types of kale, an array of lettuce, kohlrabi (new for us this year), brussel sprouts, either cauliflower or broccoli and peas. Whch brings me to the problem of the pea trellis.

I've been trolling the interwebs in search of the perfect trellis. I've thought of using bamboo poles and it may just come to that but I would like something a bit more substantial. I found a photo of one that I really like. It looks to be hinged at the top. It's made using a minimal amount of lumber and, of course, garden twine. My bed is approximately 2 1/2 ft. x 6 or 7 ft. I think I'll put  a few corn stalks in there next summer but for the fall/winter I think it will do nicely as a pea bed.

If anyone has any good trellis ideas, please share them! We have a very short season for peas but I can re-use the trellis for beans in the summer. I'm so excited! Partly because I get to go out to The Natural Gardener. I always experience a sort of natural high out there.

I'm curious to know what my fellow gardeners will be putting in the ground over the next few months? Anybody?