One of the commentators said in my last garden post something like "I want to be a gardener." Well, that's where I am.
I was in despair for a while about the gardens. The wildflower garden had zilch coming up. My dwarf sunflower was half eaten by a deer. The pumpkins were attacked by little silver bugs. I watched them wilt in front of me, the wilting moving out from the center of the plant until they were all gone. One little gourd had started to grow---the parent in me found this very disturbing somehow. The rose had stopped blooming. The tomatoes had stopped progressing.
Here what has developed since. I've purchased an anti-fungal spray called "SAFE" for the tomato, which I have diagnosed with "Early Blight." All the anti-fungal, anti-insect sprays on the market are called some variation of safe, which ironically doesn't make me feel any safer. I actually recognized the bug that killed our pumpkins (a whitefly) from the picture on the "SAFE" spray, so the next time our pumpkins are attacked, I have some means to fight back.
The sunflower has heroically come back, sprouting new flowers on the base of the stem, which I don't think it would have done without being half eaten. The top flower is beautiful, attracting bees and birds. Today we saw two goldfinches sitting on it.
There are about 6 wildflowers growing in the back. It isn't the lush wildflower bed I had hoped for, but on the other hand they are all purple! We'll try something else next year.
The most exciting thing in my garden is...the compost pile! I recall reading an essay where the author's husband exclaimed, "Someone's been putting dirt in our compost pile!" The piles of grass and leaves on either side are still piles of leaves and grass. But my pile of compost that I water, turn, and add stuff to in some sort of ratio, is turning into good black dirt. The kids were back with me while I was turning the compost pile the other day and I surprised myself by saying, "Hey kids! Look at this! This is so exciting!" Since they are young, they didn't roll their eyes, which I appreciate.
The best part is the plans I'm making for next year. Raspberries, blueberries, terracing the vegetable garden, more roses... We'll see if it works out that way.
I was in despair for a while about the gardens. The wildflower garden had zilch coming up. My dwarf sunflower was half eaten by a deer. The pumpkins were attacked by little silver bugs. I watched them wilt in front of me, the wilting moving out from the center of the plant until they were all gone. One little gourd had started to grow---the parent in me found this very disturbing somehow. The rose had stopped blooming. The tomatoes had stopped progressing.
Here what has developed since. I've purchased an anti-fungal spray called "SAFE" for the tomato, which I have diagnosed with "Early Blight." All the anti-fungal, anti-insect sprays on the market are called some variation of safe, which ironically doesn't make me feel any safer. I actually recognized the bug that killed our pumpkins (a whitefly) from the picture on the "SAFE" spray, so the next time our pumpkins are attacked, I have some means to fight back.
The sunflower has heroically come back, sprouting new flowers on the base of the stem, which I don't think it would have done without being half eaten. The top flower is beautiful, attracting bees and birds. Today we saw two goldfinches sitting on it.
There are about 6 wildflowers growing in the back. It isn't the lush wildflower bed I had hoped for, but on the other hand they are all purple! We'll try something else next year.
The most exciting thing in my garden is...the compost pile! I recall reading an essay where the author's husband exclaimed, "Someone's been putting dirt in our compost pile!" The piles of grass and leaves on either side are still piles of leaves and grass. But my pile of compost that I water, turn, and add stuff to in some sort of ratio, is turning into good black dirt. The kids were back with me while I was turning the compost pile the other day and I surprised myself by saying, "Hey kids! Look at this! This is so exciting!" Since they are young, they didn't roll their eyes, which I appreciate.
The best part is the plans I'm making for next year. Raspberries, blueberries, terracing the vegetable garden, more roses... We'll see if it works out that way.
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