The challenges of gardening this year, are unreal.
From early frosts, to bone-dry days, to heavy wind and rain storms, it’s been hard to get things going in the right direction.
We have a good sized garden, which speaks to plenty of extra spaces around the yard that lend themselves to patches of like-minded crops. It has been quite a season for germination, forcing numerous re-plantings of various seeds that either didn’t get enough moisture, or heat to pop up from the earth.
Another problem this year was an essentially feral rooster that has strutted about for many years as if his name were on the deed. On the second planting of peas, we became a little more precise about depth and cover. Before a thin layer of soil was raked over, the lunch bell rang. A couple of hours later we returned to the scene, noticing shadows where peas once laid. The rooster, short on manners and long on nerve had cleaned out the whole row, one beak-full at a time. Only he knows what happened to the row of carrots, two rows of beans and some parsnips.
This hit and miss germination has made it difficult to weed. Regrettably, a sharp hoe and tender shoots, leave little chance for redemption once a row has been shaven.
Another annoyance this year has been the dreaded potato bugs that have ravaged home-grown tomato plants started in the spring. We have taken to hand-picking morning and evening, which has resulted in dozens of hard-shelled varmints being plucked from the forest green leaves. They have however laid eggs and currently a flurry of soft-shelled critters are whittling away with great efficiency. Luckily, we had a little powder left in the shop that seems to be making quick work of solving this latest problem.
Apart from nature and the things we all deal with when gardening, there are great benefits.
Every weekend, with hoe in hand, we have been able to keep ahead of the weeds this year. Some brisk exercise and fresh air is a welcome respite from office work. More than anything though, we enjoy the daily stroll to check up on the progress of each row of plants as they poke through the soil and turn into a plant and mature. These particularly humid days seems to make everything jump inches at a time.
Our dalliance with gardening echoes everything else nature has to offer this time of year.
Trees seems to have come back from a rough winter, cash-crops like corn and soybeans have flourished, leaving little trace of the black carpet from which they sprouted this past spring.
In a few short days and weeks that labour will begin to bear fruit, fresh from the source. It all makes the weekend hoe-downs since spring worthwhile.
