 Kaleköy, Türkiye Travel... There's so much good to say about it. It opens up vistas, horizons within and outside of us. It can be fun, relaxing, re-energizing, and so much more. It can also reenforce that love of home sweet home that sometimes gets lost in the daily grind.
One more week and we'll be there--home. I miss my garden. I can hardly imagine how it's looking about now, and yet I know. It's wild, impossibly overgrown, weedy in the extreme, and doubtless not without casualties. What will I do first? The options are many. The whole thing has been needing a haircut, so to speak. Before we left, Joseph and I already agreed that some giant plants have to go. The lantana along one hedge has possibly killed the roses. It's out, along with the giant shrimp plant and mystery salvia. Weeding! It's a good thing milder temps are on the way. At least, I hope they are. I will need to don a long-sleeved shirt under my overalls to protect my arms. Poisonous plants are likely mixed in with all the weeds and overgrowth. Then, major cleanup time. Once the cleanup is done, it will be time to add organic compost and fertilizer. This year, I'm going to plant. I've been dreaming of our vegetable and herb beds. And flowers! I'm thinking big. Lots of pansies, violas, snapdragons, floxglove, and alyssum. I need to order bulbs, too. I want more, more, more! I realize that if you compare this post to ones I wrote during the summer, you might think I've lost my mind. But that's only if you're not an avid gardener. If you are, you might be thinking, "what else?" Either way, be happy for me. I'm baaack!
0 Comments
 September! Yesss! My favorite gardening time is nigh upon us! We are racing towards fall despite the extreme heat and humidity! This morning, I spent a wonderful time in the garden. I weeded, pruned, fertilized, and watered. I was hot, sweaty, muddy, and wet by the time I stopped, but I loved it. I felt like a real gardener again. I’m going to try to do a little every day.
I’ve had an epiphany. I’ve been at war with our sprinkler system since its installation ten years ago; we had it installed when we first moved in. It’s never been enough. No matter how many tweaks, additions, changes, improvements – call them what you will – and no matter how much money we have poured into it -- a ridiculous amount, I might add -- one area or another goes without water. Plants die, seeds fail to sprout, edibles wither on the stems when we’re not looking. Do you see where I’m going with this? Gardeners should always be looking. Why have a garden if you’re not going to spend time in it? For a gardener, it’s a joy to be out there. So – crazy thought -- why not water the raised beds myself? Imagine that! I don’t think it’s unreasonable of me to expect our sprinkler system to work. But it is unreasonable, not to mention stubborn, to deny myself and my plants to spite… what? The sprinkler system? I did ask my hero if he might consider attacking the problem himself rather than hiring it out again. He agreed! But Joseph is busy…so busy. I will be watering with the hose until he has time. Once he’s solved the problem (which he will if it’s at all possible), I will continue to monitor and not be a baby about watering my plants myself, as gardeners and farmers have done since forever. Watering issues aside, I’ve ordered more seed packets! In case you missed that post, I’m currently obsessed! In all my years of gardening, I’ve sown plenty of vegetable seeds but very few flowers. This summer, irritated by the poor performance of bedding plants, I tossed some zinnia seeds around and they grew! I became a seed monster overnight! I plan on buying very few potted plants this coming season. It's just so fun.  Regrettably, I didn't spend much time in the garden this week. On the upside, I will have to make up for it this weekend -- (almost) always a pleasure! Some areas aren't getting enough water from the renewed sprinkler system, but most plants are thriving. Blackberries are finally ripening. They're so small -- not the Kiowa we are used to -- but lovely and tasty all the same. Tomatoes are coming along, even the cherry have begun to fruit. There should be no stopping them now! Our little section of beans is also looking good. Daylilies have been making spectacular bursts. Coneflowers are coming up everywhere and I'm so excited. It's taken a few years for all the plants to settle in, but the results of are far more wonderful than I'd imagined. Sometimes, we just have to allow nature to take its course. This weekend, I'll have to do at least a little weeding (never enough) and finish planting the herbs I purchased last week. We will also have to see what we can do about a particularly dry patch in one of the raised beds. And I will be experimenting with more herbs from the garden. Herbal tea, anyone? |
Our GardenFor years, my husband and I worked at creating a series of gardens on our four-acre lot in a rural, Texas subdivision west of Houston. I have to say, it was a fantastic experience. Now, I have a pocket garden on a golf course. Archives
November 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed