August Garden

 

Late summer garden

August-! The summer is flying by, and we've already started doing distinctly non-summer activities, like shopping for school supplies. Strange to already be done with that task, but the kids begged me ("For once, Mom! FOR ONCE") to take them early, rather than late. They wanted to see the full array of folders, pencil cases and locker gadgets that all the other kids get to see... what's available to those whose mothers don't postpone and procrastinate.

They would never admit it, but come August the idea of school is exciting. They want to think about it and prepare, and having the right number of pencils on hand is key.

Indian corn

Meanwhile, Jon and I spend a lot of our free time managing the big gardens we planted. It's fun but time-consuming, this time of year. We have one in our backyard, another at our neighbor's, greenhouse plants to water, and field corn in a back field. Everything's organic so there are lots of weeds to manually keep in check. I've been concerning myself mainly with the garden in our backyard. The kids help weed and water at the greenhouse.

Besides weeding, it takes time to pick, wash, and preserve the vegetables. Busy, busy, busy!

So what do we have right now? Well, the cool weather crops are done, for the most part... rhubarb, lettuce, asparagus, radishes, and strawberries. We're still getting peas, but those are winding down. Now we're getting tons of cucumbers and beans. We also have potatoes, carrots, beets, broccoli, egg plant, onions, garlic, and peppers... probably others I've left out, as well.

I picked the first ripe tomatoes today :).

Have you ever seen how those heavy tall corn stalks are anchored to the ground?

We have Indian corn (the colorful, non-edible kind), and it's probably 13 feet high. Some of our sunflowers are even taller. Sweet corn and sprawling vine vegetables like pumpkins, squash, and zucchini are planted at the neighbor's, this year.


We don't use any chemicals on our garden... no weed killer or artificial fertilizer. So far we haven't had to water... the natural rainfall here is enough. Jon adds compost to the soil every year and we rotate where things are planted. He's been experimenting with different kinds of mulching techniques. The garden in our back yard has slightly raised beds with good drainage. It seems like the soil gets better each year. When we first started gardening the soil would get a crust on it that cracked. It dried into hard clumps, during dry spells. Now the soil is darker and has a loamy, soft texture. It's full of living things, including worms.

Beans climbing up a pole

We don't have a fence around the garden, and so far we haven't been forced to build one. Each year we lose some leaves, vegetables and even whole plants to bugs, deer, or other hungry "guests", but only once has the loss been significant (the year the raccoons ate all the corn). For the most part it's been a little here, a little there, with more than enough "left behind" for us.

The enjoyable part about gardening is seeing what happens. You don't have to be in control of everything. Of course you learn over time what works and what doesn't. But with good conditions, a garden is forgiving. You can have a crazy week and ignore it, and still go out later and find food. Sometimes I see bugs on the leaves... oh well. I leave them, because I don't know which are "good" and which are "bad". You don't have to know everything to start a garden.


It's such a primal thing, growing food. We weed in the early evening, when it's shady and cool. The kids like to act grudging about it, but they don't 100 % hate it... we talk. Sometimes we listen to Emma's music. It's a simple pleasure to sit on upside down buckets and touch dirt, feel wind, hear bugs and birds... everybody working. Nothing needs to be said. When you're done you can look back with satisfaction at a neater-looking row.


I think of our good soil and growing conditions a lot lately.

Cabbage

Our best ever crop of broccoli

We tried different types of sunflower this year

tomatoes!

Our gift to the birds and bugs

First year we had apples on this tree! Jon planted it about 5 years ago.

My herb garden. Empty section is where the dill was.

I was about to go into a long ramble, there, about how long it takes to develop good topsoil (over 100 years), and how casually it's being ruined to dig sand mines (topsoil doesn't stay "alive" when it's scraped off and piled for a long period of time). But I will spare you all that and give you the short version (which you have already read, so relax).

 

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!