The oasis is guarded by “Roberto,” a Peruvian Easter Island spirit. He sees everything and protects my house and family. I feed him spiritually every now and then. Lucy- best loving dog ever! Next to Roberto is Lucy who died four years ago. My neighbor Steve made this iron Lucy for me to mark her grave. My vet friend came and put Lucy down when I knew the time had come. We sat around her for a few hours that night after she had been “freed” and drank champagne. Stories about Lucy and other stories floated through the air as the evening darkened and the fireflies came out. Eventually I said “let’s go before she gets cold.”
I carried her up to the hole we dug that day, cradling her for the last time, not crying like I am now writing this. I placed her her in the hole facing the driveway so she could see us when Kyle and I left and returned, and as I stood up meow meow- Kyles cat- dove into the hole and meowed loudly then climbed out and disappeared into the darkness. The entire day meow meow was never farther than ten feet away from Lucy. How did he know Lucy would be no more??? After writing this I realize that I should stop writing tonight, having revisited Lucy’s passing for the first time in a long time. Veggie blog will be back tomorrow so I can tell everyone what I saw this afternoon in our place of peace. Just thought that I could mention to people that gardens can be a place for the soul as well as the stomach. Some things we do on our property make our lives so meaningful like this herb garden hanging beautifully on the sunny side of this garden shed by the ocean at Higgins Beach Maine. I would have never thought of this idea- so creative and artsy. The parsley plant in the ground gets harvested all winter long, and "BUDDY," the friendliest dog to ever have roamed the earth likes to pee on it/near it. I guess that's one less plant to feed and water. Credit for this beautiful idea goes to Bob and Dianne, past owners of the Higgins Beach Inn- awesome couple!!! ANY plant parts missing on ANY cucurbit plants indicates presence of squash vine borer adults energizing to destroy cucumbers, squash,zucchini. I got there first though, and if they eat my stuff they DIE! Last year by the middle of July all my cucurbits wilted and turned into slime. Not this year though! Classic tomato disease- happens every year. I’m going to spray for it when it’s not hot. Heads of lettuce after the slaughter.
I got home from work today, popped open a bud light lime and sat on the couch for a moment then thought- “Oh shit, the garden!” I learned from last year NOT to ignore it -or else!” I went up there and was glad I got my ass off the couch. I tied up the tomatoes with hemp twine- not plastic stretchy stuff. Decided to stop consuming plastic when possible. I got halfway through the row and took this picture. SO MANY FLOWERS translates into- hundreds of pounds of organic tomatoes. Realized my lawn clipping mulch is as good for my knees as it is for the plants. I was extremely comfortable scooting along on this mat of dried stuff. Def a great thing to do. Started raining so I’m outta there but took this pic of the rows I did not have enough clippings for Many dead and unhappy cabbages. I wouldn’t want to scoot along that path either. No mulch = no good. Extreme happiness=extreme growth Had my pandora station in my earbuds whilst up there in the garden when this song came on. Not bad!
I wondered tonight "what’s in the fridge," forgetting that there might be something in the garden to prepare for dinner. I hauled my tired soul up there (all of a 150' trudge). When I got to my oasis I was amazed at what I saw. Plants had quadrupled in size since I was there last (two days prior). I collected a ton of stuff for salad. Beet greens (never ate them before), romaine lettuce, three types of kale, each with their unique taste, and cabbage leaves. I saw the seeds that I planted for carrots, radish, cilantro, arugula had all come up in nice straight rows. I couldn't believe how fast they germinated. I'm a fan of seeds now- they are CHEAP and the varieties beat the hell out of varieties available as bedding plants.
Left really early this am to go fishing for porgy- Montauck. Sunburn n fun with kid. I looked back at the horizon and saw my beautiful ginkgo backlit by the dawn’s early light.
Brought home fish I can add to my salads for a while. Last year I saved thousands of dollars because I got creative with my garden/kitchen. This is year I am going to save even more because I planted earlier and have more experience. We shall see. MAKE TIME TO GARDEN FOR FOOD- it’s all good and gaining in popularity as our stores offer more expensive and more dubious food. I just wish growing this stuff could be more year round! Bok Choi just picked. Handsome sturdy foliage. Fast grower n trouble free. Onions garlic olive oil slow searing and done in THREE MINUTES Lettuce in absurd abundance for salad Everything brought outside to eat in the beautiful late afternoon weather
A row of red and white onions. The row to the right (my first priority this year) is jalapeno/habanero/cayenne peppers planted exclusively for the purpose of making insane amounts of hot sauce. I am going to need new processing cookware to speed up the process, last year was inefficient but really popular! Order, organization, planning, and the beauty of the plants themselves all add up to an incredibly satisfying gardening experience. I'm not even thinking of the food at this point, all I am striving for is a hugely productive commercial/professional experience in this garden, and I'm off to a good start. I have three or four more rows of something else to plant. Corn is cool but not really good for you, so that's out. |
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