It’s high planting season around here and that usually means a mad scramble to get the 450 or so plants we put in the ground taken care of. At present, we obviously have the 50 garlic (planted last October) growing and have planted 200 onions and about 75 potatoes. What’s next? We’ve got about 25 tomato plants to go in the ground along with four celery and 18 sweet potato vines. We also need to plant the basil and sage and direct seed the dill. The final step will be beans, carrots and beets, which are all direct seeded as well. Along with the already growing garlic, we have oregano and chives which basically just take care of themselves. (When I said we were yuppie homesteaders, I wasn’t kidding. 😊)
Unfortunately, Mother Nature hasn’t completely cooperated this year. While she did me a solid with the peach and apple trees – and I’m grateful, they’re loaded! – she needs to dry her eyes a bit. The weekend rain has put a damper on big planting efforts. This is all complicated by the fact that this year, we are also determined to get our irrigation system in for the tomatoes AND we want to use the black biodegradable corn plastic on the tomato rows to reduce blight. So, it’s no longer a simple planting job which would be done in a few hours. Getting 25 tomato plants in the ground could take most of the weekend. Still, if we get the irrigation system set up, it will save hours and hours over the course of the summer AND hopefully result in a good tomato harvest. After last year’s bust, we need ‘maters.
While a ton of work, this is always an exciting time for the garden. It’s a ball to go out every morning and see what potato plants have started peeping up through the ground or if the garlic scapes have started to grow. As each row gets planted, it’s fun to watch the overgrown weedy areas (we let them really go farrow) turn back into nice and neat garden rows. As much work and as dirty as it gets, it’s just fun to see what we put on deck for Mother Nature to nurture.
Still, I can’t deny it’s a hustle. Yesterday, I dodged the upcoming rain to get the yard mowed to clear the decks for today’s big planting session. And even though it’s still pretty damp outside, we are headed out there to start making a dent.
It’s times like this that it occurs to me that the lessons of gardening are relayed about delayed gratification. You put a lot of effort in – and I mean a lot – just to get to the point where you could grow food. Then, you put your trust in the skies and hope that the season isn’t a washout. And sometime around late August or early September, long after the memories of the hard work have faded, you see results. If you’re lucky.
Yet the appeal of growing food is also pervasive. It feels wonderful to make something largely out of seed, some compost or starter mix, water and sun. Now, I’m going to be honest, here: we’re yuppies and we have a “grow operation”, so we give Mother Nature a little push. Our seeds were started in April on a wire rack in front of our sliding glass doors. Each rack has a heat map and full spectrum grow lights and our plants are getting 16 hours of daylight long before the Earth catches up to us. Still, even with that little boost, the miracle of growth is magical. Now that the plants are “hardening off” outside for planting, its amazing to see the growth day after day. On a Thursday, you may have plants you “hope” will be big and strong enough to go into the ground; on Saturday morning, you’re like, “Whoa, buddy! Time to get you in ground fast!”
Next weekend is the big deadline for gardens. The goal around here is to get your gardens planted by Memorial Day for a fruitful summer. So, this weekend’s big push – if we make it happen – will mean that during the week, we can prep the final garden rows so that next weekend is about direct seeding and planting sweet potatoes. And if we manage that? Well, it means a successful garden launch.
So that’s it. This is how we spend our late spring weekends around here. A lot of dirt (and sometimes mud), some fun little plants, some prayers to the weather gods and a hoe. (Okay, electric tiller… you got me there.) Few would call this fun; all would agree it’s hard work. And yet, come September we will hopefully be celebrating a harvest!
The Yuppie Homesteader 