The Good Earth

I have a community garden.

3 transplanted Crimson Red Watermelon.
All my transplants are taking root (new perky leaves)
but none have started to take off and grow grow grow yet

I haven't had a garden of my very own in a few decades. I've done what I could but it was either too far away, or too shady, or too small. The last one I created was mowed down by the rental complex's gardener guy so I really gave up then. This garden is a short 5-10 minute walk, pretty much around the corner from me. It's not too full of gardeners. The plot is a decent size: 18' x 18' and the price is right: $25 for the season. If we're still here next year I will probably garden two plots; one with the goal of selling its bounty at the farmer's market... but I am wayyyyyy ahead of myself.


It was a bit discouraging at the beginning, about 2 weeks ago.   

first look at my garden plot: full grown weeds

I got the call to come get my garden well into June. I thought the plans for the garden had fallen through but what happened was that the farmer who tills our soil is a double amputee and he broke one of his prosthetic legs and/or his tilling equipment was on the fritz. Whatever the story, the garden was untilled when I got it. Bad. And the soil is... yep, clay.

clay soil as it came off my shovel

Heavy clay. And it's been pretty dry so the clay is really tough to dig into and the weeds are HUGE.   

But I thought just dig where you're going to plant and plant your stuff, you can pretty it up after. So I did, and I didn't wreck my body either. Surprisingly, after the first day I was very sore and then it was gone. Since then I haven't been in much pain at all from the digging. I start to clean out the garden tomorrow though. The thistles (eek!) are really coming back as is that crab grass and of course the dandelions. My seeds need me on their side to keep their beds as clean as I can.

weeds

Already I've had growing success! I planted all my seeds last Friday June 8th. We had heavy rain yesterday and the day before and overnight. Before the rain my Sparkler Radishes had peeped up.

Sparkler Radishes germinated in 2 days

I think some of the lettuce came up too: Kweik Butterhead Lettuce. Hard to tell though as it takes until the first set of leaves sometimes to recognize that that thing growing is a veggie and not a weed.

 

  I was presented with a lot of this kind of thing today  See image above... lots of these guys everywhere I planted stuff.

And in my northern climate I am trying a few experimental things. I am growing tomatoes directly seeded into the ground. I am waiting for them to germinate unless they already have (see paragraph above). The tomatoes I am trying are called Cosmonaut Volkov, a Ukrainian variety said to produce until the frost. Also directly seeded at Chinese 5 Colour Hot Pepper and Hungarian Hot Black Pepper. I think the 5 Colour Peppers are up. I don't think the Hungarian Black Pepper is.

inside Richter's Herbs greenhouse

I visited Richter's Herbs and bought a packet of rare seeds: Areni Jumbo Striped Banana Squash. 6 seeds per packet. Squash two feet long. The mound holding the seeds had a giant crack in it where some very vigorous thing is pushing up from below.

Like judging the size of a dog by the size of its puppy-paws, I await the debut of the Jumbo Squash seed leaves. I'm a little scared truth be told. Luckily the garden behind mine is empty so I envision pushing the giant vines over there if they are jumbo-sized too.

My Muncher Cucumbers are up! 4 little guys are enjoying the sun.

Muncher Cucumbers

Not seen yet: dill, yellow patty pan squash, Minnesota midget cantaloupe, shallots, and potatoes.

Black Valentine Bush Bean

Other things (possibly up): white kohlrabi, parsnips, purple outside/orange inside carrots, baby finger eggplant (also direct seeded!),  and beets.

Carrots? Parsnips? Peppers? Tomatoes? Eggpplant? Lettuce? or just weeds?? Everything just looks like this right now.

Tomorrow I am hoeing, trying to stymie the growth of the weeds. I may dig. I may not. I'd love to smother with black plastic the aisles where I walk to get rid of the weeds but it's not my permanent garden. If it was, I would definitely do that. I don't mind fighting the weeds. The whole thing is such a pleasure.

One more thing, this community garden requires us to grow a row for the local seniors. I've got 5 brussel sprouts and 4 cauliflowers and 1 broccoli planted for this purpose. These are all things I've never grown and probably wouldn't grow so I get the joy of watching them all season too.

This garden satisfies me in the same place that making art does.

weeds in pavement

It's in that same place. No wonder I've fallen so in love with it and feel like none of it is work at all.

It is just pure joy.

Mish Mash

I had a professor in medieval art history who encouraged us to look up whenever we were out somewhere. She said you'd often end up with wet feet from stepping in puddles, but you'd see things that half the people around you never will.

Carp Market birds

dipsy doodle on top of blow up ice cream

City wildlife

dog in a well worn bag at Ottawa Market

big big eyes

My backyard

these smell 100x better than they look and they look good

a riot of growth

KittyX : no longer an outdoor kitty .

My Garden This Year

Out of necessity I have a flower garden. I would like a vegetable garden with the odd flower here and there but last year the owners of this place I live in dug up the backyard to within a foot of my fence and REMOVED the soil. They went all the way down to the foundations of the units across from me. This must have cost the owners a fortune, carting that soil away and replacing it.
And why did they do this?
I heard it was because there had been old oil drums down there and they had leaked. The job took so long and the hole was so big that a neighbour of mine mused they were building a big high rise into the hole, just using all the land they've got you know? I asked the building manager if the soil where I am, on the other side of the fence, was okay to plant food crops in it. They assured me it was, but common sense tells me that if you removed that much soil, at that much expense, it wasn't for nothing, and if it was that close to my yard, what makes them say that it didn't come over here? So I no longer trust it for vegetables, sad to say. As a result I've been experimenting with some flowers. These were planted on the worst side: north beside a fence and always in the shade. A tough environment for a flowering plant. A nursery owner suggested this plant: the wishbone flower. It's been great for me. It's bloomed constantly. The only drawback is it's so small. Only 6" high. I wish it was a tall bush. Here's why they call it a wishbone flower.


Can you see it?











And remember, if you make a wish, Dream BiG!

Day Olds - July 18th, 2007

Garden Glove Praying Mantis

The assignment for this was to create something from a dollar store item that suggested the item itself. I found some garden gloves and used them to make a free-standing sculpture of a praying mantis. It's sewn and glued and stuffed with pink netting all on a wire frame.

Sorry for not making any new plastic pieces. Seems I always get into a crunch every few weeks or so and I'm in that crunch now. I have an Art in The Park this weekend and I am busy painting for it. Much to do. Much to do. My major problem is I can't think of what to make for my bigger pieces. I am hoping I'll get some inspiration overnight and wake up with an idea or two. This often works for me. But, if it doesn't, then I'll make some of my "classics" and maybe an idea will spark as I do my tried and true. I hope.