If Only It Was Green

   I am one of those folks who will reuse or repurpose something until it literally is no more.  Take my canning pot, as an example.  Once the enamel got a bit chipped, it started rusting rendering it not the best for canning.  Since I had three of the same pot, I simply got down another from the upper shelf and relegated the rusty one to be used in the greenhouse.  There, rust does not matter.  Plants are not choosy when it comes to containers.  So, the pot found a second life in the art of gardening.

  The other day, I grabbed the pot that had been sitting upside down on the greenhouse floor for some time.  I needed it to haul the fine compost to the garden.  I filled the large pot time and time again and carefully deposited the mulch under the broccoli plants.  With the last emptying, I had to start giggling!  There, on the inside of the pot sat a blob of dirt from the last time the pot had been used.  It was the perfect silhouette of a movie character...one of the most loved characters in the recent history of all movies...Grogu...better known as "Baby Yoda".

  Yep, I had been carrying that pot for the last hour without ever noticing that image!  After seeing it and having a fit of giggles in the middle of the garden, I figure there had to be a reason that Baby Yoda came to visit.  In this old, messed-up world full of insecurities, bitter divisiveness and downright hostility, this puppet dude is the one thing that most folks agree on...he is adorable.  So, finding his image in my garden (and I admit to having an overactive imagination) gave me the inspiration to plant more, share more and care more.  Now...if only the image in my pot was green!...with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes and the innocence of a babe...I would be in awe.  As it is, though, this is just little blob of dirt but the thought of Baby Yoda did brighten my day.

Those tomatoes, though!

   Just a week ago, I was lamenting the fact that the winter garden had mostly quit producing and had to be discarded.  There are a few cabbages left, an occasional beet and perhaps one more picking of the green peas but, other than that, the garden had given up the ghost.  In fact, yesterday, the wheelbarrow was loaded with discards as I cleaned the rows to plant the summer garden. 

  A couple of weeks ago, an experiment took place under the spent cauliflower plants.  About a dozen seedling tomatoes were set in the same row as the cauliflower.  The large leaves of the old plant would serve as a "tent" for the tiny plants.  Perhaps this would give me a jumpstart on the season!  I figured that the tomato plants would have shelter from the frosty nights that we were still having.  It boiled down to either giving the plants a longer growing season or killing off a handful of seedlings.  

  I am happy to say that the plot agreed with the plants!  Those tomato crates are already brimming over with greenery and, lo and behold, BABY TOMATOES!  Yep, today, I found dozens of marble sized tomatoes.  My experiment worked out grandly.  Since it was storming today, the garden chores were put on hold but tomorrow will find me setting out the remaining 30 tomato plants and planting squash and green beans.  With the way prices are rising, the garden may be a sure necessity.  

Goodbye, Winter Garden!

   As well as the winter garden provided, it is time for a good bit of it to say goodbye.  I hate to part with my fresh veggies but the cauliflower, cabbages and broccoli have seen better days.  Most are spent and we are eating the new leaves that form after the head has been cut.  The mustard greens, peas and beets are still flourishing so they shall stay a bit longer.  It is time to make room for the summer garden.

  Most of today was spent harvesting and tearing out old plants.  First on the agenda was to pick the peas as they take the longest and I wanted to get the job done while it was still cool.  Otherwise, the gnats would have eaten me alive!  The rest of the morning was spent picking the other veggies.  The afternoon saw me ripping out the old, spent plants and digging rows for tomato and pepper seedlings from the greenhouse.  Tomorrow, rows will be made for squash, green beans and cucumbers.

  Several folks have pondered why I work so hard in the gardens.  Pricing the peas alone is a good enough answer for me.  At nigh on six dollars a pound my fifty pounds harvested make it worthwhile but it is more the fact that I can share with others.  Gardening makes me feel good physically and emotionally.  Sitting is not for me.

Making the Best of It

   Since being bound to the Bayou for the entire pandemic (by doctor's orders), I have found that I need to make my own entertainment or at least seek it out wherever it may be hiding.  For two years now, I have rarely left the place and few people have visited (again, doctor's orders).  Then for the past year, things even took a tighter turn.  The still unexplained episode that threw me in the emergency room confined me to a smaller area yet.  It was then that I crowned myself as "Queen of the Small Gardens".  My search for enjoyment seemed to be harder but I was not going to let some virus or some malady totally blow my outlook.  I turned more to the flora and fauna that was to be found literally in my "own backyard".  Needing to "do", I planted every available space with whatever seeds I had on hand.  Oh, man!  What a mishmash of gardens grew!  Vegetables were mixed in with flowers, vines climbed on anything that was within reach and gardening tools became my best friends. 

  This morning while out surveying the gardens for possible frost damage, I was elated to find that the peas were actually flourishing.  Tiny pods were dangling amongst the leaves and showing great promise of filling out with tasty peas!  In my excitement, I started thinking of how these (basically) little seed pods were like the plants jewels.  People wear jewelry...plants wear flowers and seed pods.  Nice!

  In a few weeks, the garden should start producing delightful goodies for our table.  Cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, mustard greens, swiss chard and, yes, green peas!  Maybe being quarantined is not such a bad thing, after all.  Maybe...just maybe...I needed this to reflect upon the better things in life instead of all the trappings of a commercial world that is shoved down our throats.  Life is good, folks, life is good.

Friend Cardinal

  If you listen to others, there are signs all about us that heighten our spiritual awareness.  These things can be found in everything from a falling feather to an animal that comes to visit unexpectedly.  I am good with that.   There are signs that we should notice and heed.  Then, there are those that we should ignore.  I pick and choose which I want to bring meaning to the day.

  This morning while out working the vegetable garden, a bright red cardinal came to visit.  This normally skittish bird had no qualms of being within a few feet of me while I worked.  (When it came time for me to get the camera, the bird scooted up to a low hanging hickory branch and sat "hiding" behind twigs.)  As I planted yet more peas and put in a row of lettuce, the cardinal would flit from one fence to the next.  It was watching my every move and I soon became quite accustomed to hearing the flutter of wings just above my head.

  There are those that say a visiting cardinal is carrying a message from those from our past.  In times of trouble or illness, a male cardinal symbolizes hope for renewal and well-being.  Through all of the woes, we should be persistent.  As the cardinal kept its watch over me, I pondered the thoughts of signs and meanings.  Maybe this is one I should grasp.  Renewal and well-being would be a rather nice change of events for me.  I will take it.  I will take it.

Let's All Garden!

   Growing up on the small farm, I have gardened all of my life.  It was life.  There was no mollycoddling of kids back in the day.  Kids worked.  We worked....and we were all the better for that work.  Look at the mess the nation is in today and you can sure tell who got their butt whupped when they misbehaved as kids and also who did chores.   Now the world is full of a bunch of whiney babies who cannot do anything for themselves and full of adults who raised them that way.  Sorry, folks, but I call it like it is.  Don't like it, move along.  Chores are not bad things.  Being disciplined is not a bad thing.  The state of this nation is a bad thing...and is probably going to get a whole lot worse.

  But...we are not going to dwell on that.  The whole point of this post is to say that, as old as I am, I decided to try something new.  While the garden here is tended year round, I have never tried raising cauliflower until this year.  Yep, you can bet that will be on the agenda again next fall!  Cauliflower has to be one of the simplest things ever to grow!  Just this week, the heads started "showing" and now they are ready to be enjoyed!  The broccoli is the same.  Both rows decided that the cabbages and mustard greens could not be the only ones being flashy so now they are just as gorgeous!

  Speaking of gardens and plants, now might be a fine time for you folks in warmer climates to take up the hobby and you folks still in winter's midst, to start pondering seeds, garden plots and the likes.  Personally, I now have spinach, beets and sweet green peas sprouting and carrots on the way.  Also, the spring garden is already being planned.  Good stuff.  You can never have too many fresh veggies and fruits to suit me.  

"Hippie Gardening"

  "Hippie Gardening"!  I had never heard that phrase until a good friend used it to describe a method of gardening he had come across during a shopping expedition.  Perhaps he knew it long before but he mentioned it when telling of the vegetables and fruits at a market.  Hippie Gardening was the words he used to describe the habit of using co-planting or at least that was the way I understood it.  Co-planting or companion planting is a nifty idea  about planting flowers or other aromatic plants in the vegetable garden to cut down on pests.  This goes on to knowing which plants do well as neighbors or which do better far away from the others.  The idea of planting flowers such as marigolds and nasturtiums around vegetables that are attacked by bugs is an old one that many folks had forgotten.  In recent years, there has been a huge resurgence of planting "old-style" and that is a good thing.  "Back in the day", folks did not use insecticides or chemical fertilizers so companion planting was a method that came in handy.  Knowing which plants would tolerate being next-door neighbors and which preferred to be off by themselves was a necessity.  Another long-forgotten bit of good farming was crop rotation.  To keep the ground from becoming depleted of certain nutrients, crops were never planted in the same spot year after year.  Crops were rotated to assure that nutrients were replenished before replanting.  For instance, Pop would never plant peas in the same field year after year.  The pea rows were alternated with other crops and after harvesting, the dead stalks were plowed into the soil to replenish the used nitrogen.  Plowing old plants of any kind into the soil added organic matter and kept the garden soil from becoming too hard.  Methods such as these can go a long way in having a healthy garden.

  At first, I giggled at the term "Hippie Gardening" but then I realized that I was snickering at myself.  I do companion planting.  My gardens are filled with vegetables, flowers and herbs.  The tomatoes are grounded by marigolds, the bell peppers are best friends with the basil plants and the cucumbers were in love with the nasturtiums!   Not only are there flowers in the vegetable plots, there are vegetables stuck in the flower beds!  The whole garden space is one mishmash of plants...but they are happy plants.  

  I never thought of this as any certain "type" of gardening, I just followed along with what Pop taught me as a kid back on the farm.  It worked then...it works now.  It is all a matter of knowing which plants can coexist and which are detrimental to the others.  Getting back to some of the old ways is not all bad no matter what it is called.  Co-planting, Hippie Gardening, Commonsense....whatever works.

Tomatoes...Potatoes

  Ok.  So spring is here.  It matters not if the weather agrees...spring is here.  We do not need any more cool nights to befall the Bayou.  There just cannot be!  Why, may you ask?  Well...because of tomatoes.  Yep.  Tomatoes.  I have a strong hankering for fresh tomatoes.  And maybe some new potatoes.  Also, a few green beans would be nice.  The cold weather is not welcome at the moment. 

  This afternoon (after an all-nighter of storms), I ventured out to the vegetable plot to be surprised by tomato blossoms!  It seems that the torrential rains are agreeable with the growth of the plants.  The plants have been in the ground for a couple of weeks and are truly looking sturdy but to find the blooms made my day.  Seeing the tomato blooms and the healthy looking row of potatoes made me think of Pop and his plants and of "grubbling".

  Back on the farm, Pop planted nigh on forty acres with assorted vegetables.  He usually had fresh sweet corn, tomatoes and beans by mid April and I can remember him "grubbling" for the tiny, new potatoes so we could have a special treat to go with the Easter ham!  He had vegetables ready before most other folks were tilling their ground.  Seeds were started in "hotbeds" by the end of January so the plants were ready at the first warm day.  If a late freeze (Mom called those "Easter freezes") hit the area,  the plants were covered with black plastic pots then plowed under with about a six inch deep layer of dirt.  After the threat passed, it was an easy task to find the pot, pull it out from the dirt and leave behind the saved plant. He kept thousands of the pots in an old shed just for this purpose. This method allowed for early vegetables!  

  Now I will get a little off topic (from tomato blossoms)!  Even though the potatoes were not quite ready to be fully dug by Easter, he always managed to grubble enough for a "mess". There is a word that you do not hear often nowadays!  Grubble!  (For the longest time, it never occurred to me that the word meant anything other than digging potatoes!)  Grubble, by the way, means to fumble around in the dark.  He used it to refer to digging with his hands under a large potato plant to find a few hen's egg sized potatoes which is sort of like fumbling around in the dark! Later, the old hand plow (that had, at one time, been pulled by a mule) was hitched to the back of the tractor.  While he drove the tractor, one of the kids held the plow upright with the point just at the right angle to dig deep enough to upend the potato plants.  Then, we all would go through the soft dirt with our hands and toss the potatoes down in the furrow.  Afterward, buckets and bushels were filled to be hauled to the old truck.  This was back when kids actually helped out around the place.  We all had chores to do and were expected to do them without grumbling.  Life was great.  Too bad this does not happen in this day and age.

  Back to the small scale garden that flanks the east side of the house.  Pop probably looks down from Heaven and cringes at my feeble attempts.  My dozens of plants vs his thousands, most likely does not seem worth the effort but it keeps us in fresh veggies and I am able to can (or freeze) enough to last most of the winter.   Looky, Pop!  My tomatoes look great!  And have blooms!  Not quite as early as yours were but still looking promising.  I think I will grubble for some potatoes for Easter dinner!

Gifts From Nature

  Pop always used to tell us that we needed to make sure that we could find sustenance in nature.  To him, it was highly important that his kids could find food in some place other than a grocery store.  "Grow it, catch it or hunt it." was something that I remember him drilling into my head at an early age.  One of my earliest memories was going hunting with him.   Afraid that I might dally along the path, he used to tell me to hang onto his belt loop.  It was a far reach for a toddler to reach waist-high on a man that was well over six feet tall but I knew that I had better do as I was told for fear of being lost in the woods.  He showed me how to spot trails on the ground, markings on and under trees and to listen...always listen.  Then, later, I was allowed to hunt on my own and felt comfortable doing so.  I had learned from the best.  Fishing was much the same.  I was allowed to go to my grandparents' pier before I was even school.  With a canepole and can of worms in hand, I fished for whatever bit.  Once a catfish was hauled onto the pier, it became crab bait.  A piece of string and a fishhead could lure more crabs to bite than any other bait or trap!  Nary a thought was given that I might hurt myself or that an accident could happen.  If I had learned my lessons well, there was no need for fretting.  

  For the past week, I have become more aware than ever before that food is there for the taking.  There is really no reason for hunger if you only use your head.  As I wander about the Bayou and surrounding hillside, it astounds at the bounty given to us.  Just this week alone, the empty crab pots provided meals.  Three mullet, a trout, a croaker, a sheepshead and a shellcracker were all pulled from the empty (non baited) traps.  Had I thrown the fishheads back into those pots, plenty of other fish and crabs would have ventured inside to dine.  Actually, I had no intentions of using the traps to catch fish but the water provided.  Not only did the crab pots provide fish, a baited line and five minutes of time found me catching a nice sized trout!  Many more could have been taken but the one was plenty as a meal.  The point is...fish are there for the taking.

  Besides the fish, food also was obtained from the waning garden.  The last remnants of the summer/fall garden rendered enough vegetables to round out meals. (The winter garden is now in the process of being planted.)  Then, there are the wild plants that can be added to the plate.  With just a proper identification, many of what are never considered are plants that can be eaten.  It is not uncommon for me to gather wild plants to add to our meals. There is really no reason for hunger.  Grow it, catch it or hunt it.  Too many folks have never learned any basics whatsoever. Yep, we are blessed with more than we can imagine if we would only use what is given.  The gifts are there...sometimes we are just too blind to see them.

Say what???

  The other day, I was given a new name.  Well, a new to me name was shoved at me.  While here, a friend kept referring to me as a "Prepper". With a certain air of importance, she proclaimed that her husband was one and that he was saving all sorts of things.  "He is a prepper!"  She proudly threw the word around like it was some claim to fame.  Within a half hour, the word popped up at least two dozen times.  That was fine.  When she started using the word in reference to me, I decided it was time to ask just what a prepper was.  It did not sound like something I wanted to be.  She proceeded to inform me that "a prepper does things!"  Ok...I guess.  I asked what type of things and was told "He saves things, he wants to plant a garden, he wants to learn to be self sufficient, he wants to make things."  Hmmm...other than saving things, it sounded like a lot of pipe dreams to me.  And he is saving toilet tissue tubes....huh?  

  Later, I looked up exactly what a prepper does.  Come to find out, a prepper "prepares".  Well, duh, I figured that much but then the kicker.  A prepper prepares for a catastrophic disaster....I don't think that "wannabe" thing is going to help much in a situation like that.  Either start learning and doing ahead of time or just let it be.  Saving things can just get you a new name such as "hoarder".  Plus, those toilet tissue tubes are not going to save you, my friend.  

  I never thought of myself as a "prepper" (and I hate the sound of that word.  I do not want to be labeled as that!)  Sure, I plant a garden, home can our food and repair items instead of buying new.  I reuse things, make do with what I have on hand and have been known to catch seafood for meals.  I guess I do stockpile food with the home canning and will lay in a supply of water during hurricane season but as for going to the extreme...nah, that is for the folks who look at the dismal side of things.   I garden because I like fresh food.  I catch seafood because it is free and it is the only "meat" that I can eat.  I reuse, recycle, repurpose things because I hate to shop.  I home can because I like to eat "out of season" fruits and veggies.  None of this is preparing for Doomsday (which is about as stupid as you come anyway)!  It is called commonsense.

  Instead of "wanting" to do all of these fine things, I think it would have paid off for folks to merely have listened back in the day when parents and grandparents tried to pass on their talents.  In years past, all of the things that "preppers" are saying are the "new" thing to do were merely everyday tasks.  When did all the common knowledge disappear?  Now a lot of folks run around like chickens with their heads lopped off when a problem arises.  There is no commonsense.  Has it gotten so bad that folks have to actively "try" to be prepared?  That folks have to "learn" to survive?  If so, I bet a lot of fine elders are sitting up in Heaven just shaking their heads at what is going on down here on Earth.  How appalling it must be to them that no one cared enough to learn simple things about how to live.  Geez, folks.  You just go on with your wannabe survival tips but, whatever you do, DO NOT label me with some stupid word like "prepper".  That just sounds like a pregnant pepper to me and I want no part of it.  On the other hand, the tomatoes and celery are doing quite well!

Night Gardens

Have you ever considered just what happens in your garden at night? Sure you might fret about animals that eat the fruit and vegetables but I am referring to the flower gardens. The gardens that are solely there for the benefit of our senses. One of the most tantalizing gardens is a night garden, one where the true beauty can only be experienced after sunset and well into the evening. Years ago, I had such a happy little place as this and I am collecting plants to create another. I still have a few tubers of Four-O-Clocks that are a wonderful addition to any garden but especially in the night garden. They fill the evening air with wonderful aromas and bloom all summer long with very little care. These beauties come in a wide range of colors and once established will reappear for years to come. Make sure to plant the seeds in a place that does not need to be disturbed as they will make a tuber after the first year.

White flowers of any kind are a must in the night garden. They literally shine in the moonlight when all colored flowers seem to disappear into the darkness. Lilies, Jasmine and Gardenias will all add a splash of brilliance plus wonderful scents to this space. If there is some sort of support, a fence or trellis, the Moon-flower vine is definitely a "must have" plant. This vine produces very large blooms that resemble the Morning Glory in shape. The buds themselves have a beautiful spiral to them and they open into seven inch blooms in the late afternoon. Moon-flower vines are annuals so be sure to save a handful of seeds for the next year. (Use care when handling the seeds though, they are toxic.)

For those with a more exotic taste, there is always the Night-blooming Cereus. This is a tall succulent plant that produces buds along the edge of the leaves. These buds take a week to mature to blooming stage but are well worth the wait. The blooms are huge with a multitude of petals that open to fill the entire garden with incredible fragrance. With proper care the Night-blooming Cereus can get quite large and be covered with many, many blooms. Last year, my plant had eighty-seven of these massive blooms at one time. The blooms only last one night but I do recommend this plant just for the sheer "wow" effect. It is that amazing. This plant is not cold hardy and should be moved indoors during the winter months.

A couple of last notes about night gardens. I do advise that the garden plot is placed near the house so that it can be enjoyed on many evenings. Next to the entry, by a deck, near a porch would be perfect. Another tip is to mark pathways with stepping stones or gravel that will shine in the moonlight so as to keep artificial lighting to a minimum. Small path lights that are unobtrusive might suffice when the moon is not cooperating. Water features add another nice bit of ambiance as will a seating area. Happy night gardening!